A pair of brazen thieves swiped a Vespa and two motorcycles from a driveway in Preston.
Footage showed the culprits caught red-handed stealing the vehicles and even staring at a security camera as they made their escape.
Simon Carey feared the worst when he woke to find the cover for his Vespa had been laid out on the floor.
The photobooth business owner had recently moved to his new home and was keeping the bikes on his driveway, which was protected with a motion sensor light and CCTV camera.
Security measures did not deter the thugs, who lit up the driveway as they approached at 4am on Sunday, March 8.
The bikes were all later found near a pond, some 500 yards away from his home.
The mountain bikes had been dumped in a bush, but Mr Carey said the Vespa had been damaged beyond repair.
With his insurance unlikely to cover the cost of the damage, the 48-year-old said his ‘little pack of happiness’ had been taken away from him.
The two thieves were caught red handed carrying the Vespa out of the driveway
The thieves walked into Mr Carey’s garden, unbothered by the bright security lights
Video footage showed the moment the thieves showed up in hoodies and face masks and entered Mr Carey’s garden.
The two men rode both of the mountain bikes out of the driveway one after another.
The pair then returned and were seen carrying the Vespa out of the driveway, one of the men stared at the camera as he stole the bike.
Mr Carey said the men then hotwired the Vespa and drove away.
He said: ‘I woke up on Sunday morning, I coach football so I went out to collect the cones.
‘I saw the cover of the Vespa was on the floor and I thought “oh goodness, I have been robbed”.
‘I noticed the mountain bikes were gone and they had left a bottle of strawberry milkshake over the Vespa cover.’
Mr Carey was alerted to a Facebook post which said the vehicles had been found near a pond in Preston, close to his house.
Police are still hunting the thieves
However, by the time he arrived, the police had already taken them in.
Mr Carey then received an email from his insurance company, as one of the thieves was trying to make a claim on his insurance policy.
He said the front end of his Vespa has been ‘completely damaged’ after it was involved in ‘some kind of collision’.
The business owner said the value of the bike means he is unlikely to have an insurance payout, meaning he will not be able to replace it.
He said: ‘I am a little bit paranoid now. I have a photobooth business, so there is quite a lot of expensive stuff.
‘I need to get a good-sized gate.
‘The house was lit up all night, and the cameras light up as well when they are triggered.
‘So it was very blatant from them, they came in without a care in the world.
‘The Vespa is going to be a write-off. It is worth about £850, so I don’t think the insurance will cover it. But I can’t afford to replace it.
‘It was my little pack of happiness. I used to love riding around on that in the summer but it is gone now.’
A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: ‘We were called at 7.39am on 8th March to woodland off Bluebell Way, Bamber Bridge, to a report that a Vespa and two mountain bikes had been found.
‘The owner of the Vespa and mountain bikes has been traced, and the owner has reported they were stolen from his home.’
