An NHS doctor couple have vowed to buy a third Jeep Wrangler despite a keyless car thief gang stealing two from them in a month.
Neurologists Vijeya Ganesan, 57, and Peter Garrard, 64, noticed their two-year-old £47,500 motor had been taken from the road outside their London home of 27 years on Easter Sunday.
They had bought the car mainly for long trips and their Border Terrier, Gus, so they decided to use the insurance money and splash out £54,000 to buy the exact model and colour as a replacement.
Yet despite purchasing Faraday pouches from Amazon to act as a defence barrier to stop thieves cloning the keys, and hiding an AirTag in the glove box, the Jeep was astonishingly nicked again on May 21 – just ten days after they collected it.
To add insult to injury, Gus has also had his bed stolen twice as it was in the Jeep on both occasions.
The brain doctors thought the AirTag had pinpointed their beloved car dumped in Hackney, but when officers raced to the area it was nowhere to be seen with the criminals appearing to have found and then discarded the tracker.
Vijeya told MailOnline she felt like the Jeep Wrangler had been targeted by crooks as Porsches and Lamborghinis parked on their street had been left untouched.
The thefts came in the same month LBC presenter Nick Ferrari had his Jeep Wrangler stolen from outside his home, raising fears the model could be being stolen to order before it is ferried out on ships.
NHS doctor couple Vijeya Ganesan, 57, and Peter Garrard, 64, have vowed to buy a third Jeep Wrangler after keyless car thieves stole two from them in a month
They had bought the car mainly for long trips and to transport their Border Terrier, Gus, so they decided to use the insurance money and splash out £54,000 to buy the exact model and colour
The couple, who have also had their bikes twice stolen before, are staying defiant in the wake of their extraordinary bad luck, and are even contemplating buying a third Jeep Wrangler.
Speaking about the thefts, Peter told MailOnline: ‘I felt rather stupid and also unlucky as we had taken the precaution of getting these additional security measures.
‘Also, I’m terrified that we won’t be insurable anymore because they were both stolen from exactly the same place in similar circumstances.’
He added: ‘It’s like anything that’s yours and then somebody else decides to help themselves to, it’s always a very unpleasant feeling. But in the end, it’s only an object.’
Although worried it may be stolen for a third time, they hope £700 worth of additional security – including an immobiliser and having to push buttons on the car in a certain order akin to a phone’s passcode – will create a ring of impenetrable steel.
They are also fearing the cost of the car insurance with the premium surging from £1,400 to £3,100 after the first wagon was stolen.
Peter said: ‘I know it should have done [put us off buying another Jeep]. But it’s a great car and good for doing the things we want to do, which is mainly infrequent very long drives, rather than buzzing around the neighbourhood.’
He added: ‘There’s almost an element of defiance about it as well. Almost like we are not going to give into these bastards. They are such nice cars.’
A neighbour’s CCTV footage showed the Jeep parked on the road outside their home (left), but in a snapshot taken an hour (right) later the car had disappeared
They thought the AirTag had pinpointed their beloved car dumped in Hackney, but when officers raced to the area it was nowhere to be seen
Vijeya admitted there had been ‘petty theft’ on their street where homes cost an average of £860,000, with a running joke in the neighbourhood being to leave anything on the pavement if you don’t want it.
‘We had become so paranoid that we had kept the keys in the pouches, and only took them out to get into the car,’ Vijeya said.
‘I would say they were very effective because if you got in the car with the keys in the Faraday pouches it would say “key not detected”.’
No one from Scotland Yard has met with the couple face-to-face since they reported the thefts, instead communicating with them over the phone and email.
The street is swarming with CCTV meaning the culprits have almost certainly been caught on camera, but the couple were told by police in an email, seen by MailOnline, officers would only gather the footage if the vehicle had been used in a serious crime, such as a rape or murder.
Police sources have told this publication it was incorrect for it to be suggested CCTV is only considered in serious offences, but that officers can make further inquiries if the offence is narrowed down to a 20 minute window.
And now Scotland Yard has reopened the case after MailOnline raised questions as to why the footage wasn’t collected.
Peter feels police have done a good job despite the initial failure to collect what could be vital evidence.
‘I think [the police] got quite excited about it first of all as I phoned 999… and then within ten minutes I was getting phone calls from officers saying “I’m in the area with my patrol car”,’ he said.
‘I think they actually did carry out their job well, and I think they thought maybe this is one of those rare cases they could actually do something about. But they didn’t.
Nick Ferrari had his brand new £60,000 Jeep (pictured) stolen last month from outside his gated home in London
Mr Ferrari, 66, (pictured in September 2024) told MailOnline it felt ‘strangely personal’ to have his wagon stolen before praising Scotland Yard’s response to the brazen theft
‘And I didn’t hear that they hadn’t done anything until I received an email three days later. But I think they took it seriously.’
Vijeya, however, has a different view: ‘I just feel really p****d off that there are cameras everywhere, and this is the second occasion.
‘We knew exactly the window the car was stolen from so it’s not like we were asking them to look through hundreds of hours of footage.
‘I mean, Peter said he thought the police response was good, but I think it’s pretty pathetic when they don’t tell you until three days later whether they’ve found the car or not.
‘I don’t think that’s terribly good actually.’
The couple say they don’t want anyone else to fall victim to keyless car thief gangs as Vijeya said: ‘We thought we were fine with this Faraday pouch thing.
‘I gather it is a bit of an epidemic at the moment [keyless car thefts] and it would be good for other people not to have to go through this nonsense.’
A spokesperson for the Met Police told MailOnline: ‘The Met understands the impact motor vehicle crime has on victims.
‘Every report made to police is carefully assessed to identify and pursue any viable lines of enquiry, including forensic evidence and available footage.
‘A tracking device indicated the vehicle might be at a specific location. Officers promptly attended, but the vehicle was not found. As no further actionable evidence was available, the victim was advised that the case would be closed due to the lack of viable lines of enquiry.
‘There are also steps you can take to safeguard your vehicle – crime prevention advice can be found via our website.’
