A coffee shop owner said he felt ‘violated’ after a customer’s bike was stolen at knifepoint in broad daylight and police arrived only to order coffee.
Steve Bassi, 71, said the theft was ‘beyond the pale’ and claimed Met Police took more than an hour to arrive afterwards, though other uniformed officers came to order drinks in the meantime.
Onar Cranny, 26, was drinking coffee outside Bartons coffee shop in Bermondsey on Friday, February 21 when two men dressed in black pulled up on a motorbike and grabbed her bicycle.
When her friend Patrick Archer moved to block them from stealing the bike, they pulled out a knife and he backed away holding his hands in the air.
One of the men then slowly slung the bike over his shoulder, before the pair drove away.
Ms Cranny, originally from Delaware in the US, had only owned the Trek Madone bike, which can cost £5,000, for around a week.
It was just her second ride and she had cycled 25km with Mr Archer, from Canada, before buying coffee and a pastry from Bartons.
The pair had just finished their drinks and were preparing to leave the shop.
Two men on a motorbike stole Onar Cranny’s bike at knifepoint in Bermondsey last month
Officers arrived at the cafe shortly afterwards but only for their lunch, not to investigate the crime
The men were filmed earlier that day by a neighbour, who thought they looked suspicious
She told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s definitely terrifying.
‘I’m just shocked. Obviously I know people will steal bikes when they’re locked up or someone’s not with the bike but to be getting ready to get back on and have someone come up, it was just like, wait, what?
‘I was literally just about to get on the bike. It all happened so fast.’
After the thieves flashed the knife at Patrick, Ms Cranny said: ‘We’re not going to argue with that’.
‘You’re just in utter shock,’ she added.
‘It was like 11 in the morning on a Saturday, so brazen.’
Ms Cranny said she had bought the bike with money inherited from her grandfather and was beginning to train for a half Ironman in October with her partner.
Mr Bassi, originally from Forest Hill, said ‘this shouldn’t happen’ in London and he was disappointed officers took so long to arrive.
Steve Bassi, who owns Bartons coffee shop, said he and his staff felt ‘violated’ by the theft
Onar Cranny had her Trek Madone bike, similar to that pictured, stolen in Bermondsey
After the theft at 10.55am it took more than an hour for police to reach the shop.
Around 35 minutes after the bike was stolen, four uniformed officers entered Bartons but only to order coffee, not to investigate the crime.
Mr Bassi said: ‘We had a police van turn up with several officers and we thought they had come to deal with this crime but they had just come for coffee and they said ‘oh, I’m sure somebody will turn up soon’.
‘All of us, we feel violated by this and really, really angry.’
After the theft Mr Bassi started a fundraiser for Ms Cranny on GoFundMe.
‘I felt really guilty,’ he said.
‘Although they’ve been here a couple of years, they’re visitors to my country and they’ve been robbed in broad daylight at knifepoint.
‘I just feel so bad about it and I just had to do something, it’s not something I could let go.’
Ms Cranny said it was ‘nice to know there’s still good people in the world.’
Mr Bassi also railed against crime in the capital and London’s mayor Sadiq Khan.
‘We’ve got a mayor who doesn’t fund proper policing and the prime minister does nothing,’ he said.
‘Crime in London is crazy.’
Mr Bassi added a nearby shop ‘was actually robbed at gunpoint late last year and we never see a policeman unless they’re coming for coffee’.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said Sir Sadiq was ‘determined to crack down on all thefts and robberies and ensure all Londoners are safe at all time’.
They added neighbourhood crimes including personal robbery, theft and violent crime were falling but the mayor was ‘committed to building on the progress achieved’.
The spokesperson said Sir Sadiq had set out plans to invest £1.26billion in policing to help ‘bear down further on these crimes with more visible policing in hotspot areas, greater funding for specialist proactive policing teams and an enhanced partnership led approach to deliver a safer London for everyone’.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: ‘We recognise the distressing impact of these types of crime on victims, the community and business owners.
‘All reports are taken seriously and while we understand the frustration surrounding response time, in this case no one was injured, the stolen item was not immediately traceable and the suspects had fled the scene.’
They added a detective had taken a formal statement from the victim and outlined the investigation process.
Officers have also spoken with the coffee shop owners to gather CCTV evidence and ‘provide them with reassurance’.
The spokesperson said the force’s enquiries continue.
CCTV captured the theft and a neighbour filmed the pair on the motorbike beforehand, having had their suspicions raised by the thieves’ movements.
