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Trace, Track, Get My Car Back - Season 1 Episode 3
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00:00car crime is at a record high across the UK there's a car stolen every four minutes
00:18leaving families feeling violated there's people in my house and more than likely they're not here
00:29for a good reason 50 seconds was enough time to reprogram that car so that they had control of
00:35it and we didn't but an army of investigators are fighting back the car is actually parked just there
00:41by fitting vehicles with high-tech trackers can't tell you what the devices look like or where we
00:46hide them so they can trace track it's a cat and mouse game now we just have to follow that signal
00:51and snatch them back from the crooks who took them there you go there we go got it before they're
00:55sold on or shipped overseas they're called organized crime groups for a reason they're
01:00organized they plan this stuff today when a stolen car is discovered near a football stadium as we
01:14approached the parking space it just wasn't there and it was just that sinking feeling the car's been
01:20taken there's a tense waiting game to see if the thieves return we'll park here so we can now see
01:28the vehicle through this fence and the hunt for two machines leads to an industrial estate well I think
01:35I've got one machine whether we've got any more than that all right the West Midlands is a car crime
01:47hotspot with over 7,500 vehicle thefts just last year it's 5 a.m. on a snowy January morning and
01:57tracker Neil Thomas is on his way to Aston a mile and a half outside of the city centre on the hunt for a
02:04stolen car we had a customer phone up yesterday to say they had a Toyota Hilux stolen our Toyotas at
02:11the moment are being targeted by the car thieves and this one was part near Aston Villa football
02:17ground and he went to the football I believe I came back from the car disappeared yeah this customer
02:23uses this car for work every day so it's not it's not even the value of the vehicle it's it's a work tool
02:31and you know he needs that car to perform his role form his job for opportunistic car thieves
02:38sporting events can provide rich pickings if you think about it from a think of these perspective you
02:44know you've got potential that somebody's away from the car for you know at least 90 minutes so they've got a bit of time
02:50also the winter months see an increase in vehicle thefts across the country because the darker nights
02:58allow car thieves to go unnoticed interestingly this vehicle has been stolen before in this in a similar
03:05location so it's obviously a gang that's targeted specifically Toyota Hilux's the tracking device fitted in
03:14the car is activated to wake up in the early hours so Neil's hoping the early bird will catch the worm
03:21you know what we don't want to do is go in the middle of the day or you know if it's at a chop
03:25shop or you know somewhere like that so this is the best opportunity for us to just go there there's
03:31gonna be nobody around when the cars tracker woke up and gave an alert Neil noticed something curious
03:37about its position the location it's reported from is literally a few miles away from when it was stolen
03:45and it looks as though it's reported from a road which again is quite unusual with a vehicle like
03:52a Hilux you'd think you'd be tucked away somewhere car thieves tend to avoid cooling off vehicles on main
03:58roads in case the police go by with a number plate recognition camera which could indicate that the car has
04:04been stolen we know from experience that a lot of the time the thieves will turn up with pre-printed
04:12clone number plates so I'll always rise if it's on a different number plate when we get there
04:18Neil is getting close to where the tracker is reporting from we just come into the road now where it should
04:26be so we're looking for a Toyota Hilux finally Neil has eyes on the vehicle think I'll concede so
04:44that's what I said about the number plates number plates have been taken off it and it's locked up on looks at it
04:52yeah so that's that's the car he calls his colleague Alan to update him yeah we read the car yeah it's on
05:06the main road but we've taken the number plates off so front and back let me ring the police first
05:11and see if they're gonna turn out and then I'll come back to you yeah while he waits for Alan to
05:17contact the police Neil does a recce around the immediate area so we're looking around really
05:24now for any lights that may be on local addresses if somebody maybe I'll be watching the vehicle
05:34Neil's eager to inspect the car but the criminals could be nearby so he needs to wait for police back
05:41up we could easily just get out and have a look at the vehicle but we'll wait for the police first of
05:47all that what I might do is just park up the road a little bit because you just never know when
05:52somebody's gonna come back to the car Neil moves out of harm's way and finds a safe place to stake out
05:59the high locks we'll park here so we can now see the vehicle through this fence and we're far enough out
06:10the way that they won't be able to see us let me just wait for the police meanwhile Alan calls with an
06:16update okay if police can gather enough DNA evidence from the vehicle they might be able to
06:38figure out who's targeting this high locks so Neil knows he has to play the waiting game we know how
06:44the police operate because they want it for forensics you know it's best thing for us not to go anywhere
06:50near it you know we don't want to compromise any of their investigation later as Neil stakes out the
06:57high locks two people appear to be very interested in the car and he's forced into action
07:03emergency room service oh please please
07:06yeah we just got a geofence error on the on the excavator it's early evening but tracker
07:19Richard's heading out on another theft recovery all right Jack I'm on my way all right yeah I'll give
07:24you a ring take care see you soon bye two mini diggers worth more than fifty thousand pounds have
07:31been stolen from a plant hire company in Birmingham one of them's fitted with a tracker we received a
07:41roll late this evening it's approximately 8 30 at night saying that a company had had a to keep you TB 216
07:51stolen it's a mini excavator we recovered quite a lot of these it's one of two machines with our customer
07:57that have been stolen but this is the only one with one of our trackers in the diggers were rented out to
08:03what seemed a genuine company but they've now disappeared other plant hire businesses have been hit by the
08:10the same scam with a total of five machines stolen worth around a hundred thousand pounds maybe we'll
08:18get all five of these machines I'm hopeful we get the one that with the tracker in back at base Jackie's
08:26monitoring the tracker in the stolen digger there's no live GPS something's blocking the signal you've
08:34still got the red light yeah they're still not connecting this end but there is data coming from
08:41the tracker's sim card being picked up by a mobile phone mast and we've put the unit into alarm and the
08:49Automatrix M track is reporting a cell site in Wales just north of Carlin Carphilly the machine arrived in Wales
08:58at 11 o'clock last night it's now 24 hours later Richard's not far from the phone mast but he still
09:05can't pinpoint the diggers exact position we've been trying to get a GPS position by continually asking the
09:15tracking device to supply us with the GPS but it can't get a fix from the satellite so that's that's
09:22meaning that even the signal is not got access to the satellites by it being inside a building or maybe
09:30some signal jamming equipment might be in use so we're unable to get an accurate location so you know
09:38we've got to use the radio technology at the end of the day a radio frequency or RF signal is accurate to
09:47within a few meters and is much more difficult to block the trackers Richard uses transmit both GPS
09:55and RF signals let's see we picked up the RF the signals leading him to an industrial estate it looks
10:08like the thieves have already sold the diggers to an unsuspecting buyer Richard's arranged to meet up
10:15with Steve from the plant hire company to help identify the diggers so it definitely looks like
10:20a plant place here so he might board it my name this isn't right one this is an attache it's just wait
10:28it's just a whack of newson there's no sign of the stolen diggers so Richard deploys his trusty
10:37handheld receiver it's gonna be in one of those two units I think I'm on a five now level one is the
10:47strongest reading level nine the weakest level five it's the same on both these doors so I think they're
10:58the same unit nothing on this door at all I think I've got a bit on this door yeah definitely got a
11:06bit on there seems to be coming from underneath it looks like these metal shutters have been blocking
11:16the trackers GPS signal well I think we've got one machine whether we've got them any more than that
11:23I don't know so we just need to get the police here now to get this open Steve calls for police backup
11:29yeah we got some headlights and they quickly respond all right all right so see the one with the light on
11:40yeah that's probably where the strongest signal is the officers can't do anything until the morning
11:45so we'll position a police car outside but Richard is reluctant to leave the site I've just come around
11:52the corner to a small hotel and I'll park up and get some kip here in the hotel it would be a bit of
11:58novelty normally I just kip in a car so yeah we'll have to come back in six hours time and see see how
12:04things go cracking later will Richard finally find the two stolen diggers okay we're going in
12:17in Birmingham vehicle tracker Neil Thomas has located a Toyota Hilux which was stolen while its owner was
12:30watching a football match unbelievably this is the second time this has happened to the Villa fan
12:36under the same circumstances and it's the second time Neil has found his car again that's where
12:42Aston Villa ground is and that's where we are so it hasn't been driven very far you know less than
12:49them all awaiting police backup Neil's been watching the vehicle in case the thieves return and now two
12:57individuals have appeared Neil's worried that the thieves are back and calls the police we've got
13:03a stolen vehicle from a tracking company and somebody's just turned up at the stolen vehicle
13:07yeah somebody's looking at the vehicle thought it might be the thieves but it may well be your
13:18officers just bear with me upon closer inspection Neil breathes the sigh of relief I think it's your
13:29officers okay so you said you're with the vehicle uh yes we are yeah that's it but I think they're
13:41police officers so we're going to speak to them okay thanks for your help thank you bye-bye
13:45Neil is keen to give the car the once-over and approaches the vehicle to assess any damage
13:52morning you've got damaged uh wheel lock and then whoever's done it has gone in through the back and
13:59then he's uh climbed across that now yeah you can see the number plate's been taken off just ripped off
14:05that looks at it so the screws are still in there the thieves gained entry through the back window and
14:16then tried to hunt for trackers unsuccessfully this time you know it looks behind the dashboard we don't
14:24know whether that's to compromise the ignition uh always try and find any any tracking devices
14:30probably a little bit of both probably a little bit of both yeah it's gonna be expensive to repair
14:36it however you know the vehicle's back that's the main thing the recovery vehicle loads up the
14:42high locks and a forensic examination will hopefully provide enough evidence to arrest the culprits
14:48a really good job yeah he's stolen uh yesterday uh and obviously you know they've made an untidy
14:55search uh of the vehicle inside trying to look for ways to compromise probably the ignition first of
15:01all and then potentially look for covert trackers which they haven't found and the track has uh given
15:06us the exact location you know it's a great job we've got the car back so another one to us
15:11although he's behind the wheel of another high looks now the driver luke carter was relieved to
15:22be reunited with his car but discovering his vehicle had been stolen was a huge shock i was at villa park
15:30home of aston villa football club i'm a season ticket holder there been to the game uh returning to the
15:36vehicle to go home with a friend of mine uh as we approached the parking space it just wasn't there
15:41and it was just that sinking feeling the car's been taken the game itself proved to be the ideal
15:50opportunity for the theft to take place you've got 42 000 fans that are inside the stadium with all
15:58their cars parked outside the thieves know that no one's returning to that vehicle while the match is
16:04in play uh so it just gives them free reign high luxes and 4x4 pickups in general do get stolen and
16:12shipped out abroad for parts and i just didn't want my vehicle to be one of those i had a phone
16:18conversation with the police to get the crime number and they asked me if there was any trackers
16:22on the vehicle which i told them there was and they gave them the details of the tracking company
16:28and then when i woke up the next morning at 6am it was a text message from the retrieval team saying
16:34it was with the vehicle and they'd got it back the substantial damage the thieves inflicted on luke's
16:42toyota resulted in huge disruption for him the vehicle's off the road for the best part of two
16:49months getting uh obviously the windows and all the dash repaired it has a massive impact uh when it's off
16:57the road i've got things to do how am i going to do that it's just an absolute nightmare
17:08back in south wales it's early morning morning richard's planning to snatch back at least one
17:14stolen digger and maybe even two needless to say this hotel was actually completely full last night
17:21so i've just got my head down for a few hours in the car richard goes back to the industrial estate
17:29no one's turned up yet it's 20 to 6 in the morning and uh that's good that means we're going to be
17:34able to eyeball this unit opening and see if you see the stolen machine inside with this stolen digger
17:41someone's just turned up so we're gonna have a look now
17:49two officers here and they're talking to the first person who's turned up just after six o'clock
17:57okay we're going in
17:59richard's finally inside the unit so 831 is the one with the tracker in it oh okay yeah
18:09so that's that one and the other one could be 884
18:14it's a great result he's found not one but two stolen diggers
18:22they're moved out into the open to be checked for damage
18:25that's the stolen one without a tracker in so we're lucky to get that one back and then uh
18:33the xc 831 excavator 831 and you can see the security season number plate it's been scratched
18:40out i mean you don't buy a machine if this number is this security number has been tampered with you
18:45know why would you buy a machine without like that obviously these have been sold to somebody who's
18:52going to lose a lot of money pickup transporters arrived this is going to go with the police now
18:58um it's the quickest thing to do is to get these recovered away from this site as soon as possible
19:03that's the second transporter so we're going to have a bit of a convoy here two two transporters
19:09we've got ourselves the convoy a police investigation is now underway and thanks to richard the net is
19:16closing in on the thieves behind this fraudulent hire scam i think that job's gone like clockwork to be
19:21honest wasn't too difficult to actually pick up the rf signal i mean sometimes it can be hours but that
19:27that was pretty quick and then of course you know in the morning the roller door open and then uh we
19:33popped and those two machines were in there that was fantastic i couldn't believe it i mean i was like
19:38i knew there'd be one in there but to have both machines in there was was was top notch really
19:52whether to beat congestion save money or reduce pollution more of us are using bicycles to get round
19:58but in the uk around 77 000 bikes are reported stolen every year and london is a bike theft hot spot
20:12recovery specialists backpedal retrieve stolen bikes for victims of theft by fitting them with gps trackers
20:18and one of their agents is bilal ali i feel good about the job i do i don't know if you've ever had
20:26your bike nicked but it's one of the worst feelings today bilal has been notified by a client that one of
20:33their precious cargo bikes worth around 3 000 pounds has gone missing a cargo bike is a bicycle designed to
20:42carry heavy loads like parcels or groceries some but not all are electric using gps technology bilal intends
20:52to track it down and take it back these cargo bikes aren't easy to hide and from the tracking it almost
21:01looks as if it's in someone's back garden so we might have a bit of a confrontation to do today just you
21:07know go knock on the door hey listen we can see the bike is in the back just hand it over
21:15the tracker is giving out an alert from a block of london flats
21:18so bilal parks his van and attempts to pinpoint the exact location
21:25hopefully it is just as simple as the tracker says you can see it's just kind of left in the garden
21:31bilal's hopes for a simple solution are helped by the gps tracker which provides him with an exact
21:40location of where the cargo bike could be we've arrived at the gps location i'm getting a strong
21:47signal i think it might be down over here let's come and have a look
21:52the place is it just over beyond this brick wall and if i come and have a look
22:02yeah i can see it there as well i can see the cargo bike just over there
22:08it's quite run down there's different bits of rubbish laying around like i can't see the battery on the
22:13back and it almost kind of looks as if they've started to help themselves already uh taking off bits
22:25yeah almost looks as if there's like an opening over there in the do
22:30satisfied that the bike has been located bilal now attempts to gain access to the garden
22:36without disturbing any residents
22:46we're going to take a look around see if there's any other points of entry
22:49and hopefully we can gain access from there the last resort is knocking on somebody's door and
22:54hopefully they can listen there's no way in but bilal can see which flat the bike is closest to
23:11so his only option is to knock on the door
23:26hello hi could you come through the door please
23:30hi hey you all right bro yeah brother you got our bike in the back what bike the big cargo bike
23:41yeah do you have any way to get through there um or do you mind just bring it around to through the
23:46back okay yeah you know what i'm talking about yeah the big black one i have a look now yeah have a
23:51look it was the one with the big box yeah okay hold on
24:00a look yeah if someone dropped that off this morning mate who who dropped it off at what time
24:05um nine o'clock this morning nine o'clock this morning yeah oh who is it it's just a random geese
24:10was it some random guy yeah yeah but the stolen goods and i need to take it back to the company
24:15that's the thing yeah how am i going to get how are you going to bring it i'm going to get if you
24:19know yeah yeah he said he's going to try to bring it around supposedly he knows the code for the padlock
24:27according to him somebody bought it at nine o'clock this morning which kind of matches the gps timings
24:36trying to see if i can open it with no evidence to suggest the resident is the bike thief
24:42bilal is careful not to make any accusations and is keen to keep the situation calm
24:48it can go one of two ways denial or aggression so i don't want to get aggressive with him i don't
24:54want him to get aggressive to me um the best thing to do is just kind of negotiate the bike is too big
25:02to go through the flat but the resident has lost the code to gain entry to the back garden
25:07so he attempts to open the padlock himself with a hacksaw
25:22the last thing we want to do is come back if we do go away and we come back the tracker might be
25:29taken off and the bike might actually be moved with no access code available and the padlock proving to
25:40be unbreakable they resort to desperate measures
25:43so if we get the front over yeah then the rest should just go
25:56and just let it go
25:58no no just let it go perfect
26:10this would not be bilal's usual method but he's determined to recover the bike today as it could
26:18be gone by tomorrow
26:22however bilal discovers there's one vital bit of equipment still missing the battery
26:29yes thank you
26:31now success great success we have uh the battery over here and we have the actual cargo bike without
26:41the battery the bike is really nothing so that was a great recovery very happy with that
26:48yeah not too much damage all in all to be honest
26:53bilal may think there's been very little damage but he soon discovers a problem with connecting the battery
27:01so this is actually quite messed up it should just easily slide in and out because you saw how much
27:10i was struggling i pumped the brakes on the bike so it doesn't move normally you would just be able
27:14to slide it in and out um in this instance i think they're just gonna have to replace the whole bracket over
27:22here although some damage has been caused by the thief disconnecting the battery it's still been a
27:29successful recovery mission for bilal now that we've located the bike we've recovered it the final
27:36check is just to check the gps we've checked it now it places it in this alleyway and i can confirm
27:41this was our bike that was nicked this morning i feel like a million bucks i feel proud of what i do i
27:47feel good about what i do look at this bad boy he's a beast bilal just needs to return it to the customer
27:55who will be delighted to have the valuable bicycle back
27:58bit rough and ready but we've got a day in the end successful recovery and they're all good
28:28so
28:36so
28:38you
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