Paul Hampton, 56, and his partner Jacqui Heeley, 54, were woken at 5 in the morning after a neighbor told them to take a look at their car which is parked outside their home in West Bromwich, West Midlands.
Hampton was shocked when he saw his 2018 C-Class AMG stripped-bare for parts by thieves.
The £16,000 ($23,300) Mercedes was fitted with a tracker to avoid theft. But Paul found both the driver and passenger doors missing, along with both front seats and all four wheels, leaving the car stood on bricks.
The thieves even took some sweets Paul had stashed in his center console.
The thieves had attempted to remove the back seats which were severely damaged and appeared to have been disturbed whilst trying to get the front bumper and lights.
“When I stepped outside the front door, I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Paul said. “They hadn’t damaged any panels, it’s just been stripped bare.”
“These are professionals and appear to work in teams of five or six to cut the time down,” he continued. “Each person has their own job. They didn’t just cut the wires in the doors, they unclipped the connectors to avoid damaging them. They’ve left the remaining parts in perfect condition.”
“They didn’t leave any fingerprints because they’d worn latex gloves and it probably didn’t take them long to get everything off as they’re not your average car thieves,” Paul said. “We’ve spoken to some mechanic friends and they believe they wanted the bumper and lights because there’s a sensor inside them which makes them worth £1,000 ($1,400).”
“They must have been disturbed before that happened though because they only managed to get the registration plates off. More could have been taken,” Paul said. “I normally have a cup of tea with my neighbor before going to work but this morning she’d woken up and rushed over.”
“She’d seen the car boot arms sticking in the air and thought she was seeing things so when she came outside she said she had a heart attack,” Paul added. “I went to bed like normal at 10 pm but obviously by 4.30 am this had been done. It’s because they’re so efficient.”
Paul and Jacqui have had the two-door coupe since April 2018 on hire purchase and it was due to be worth £16,500 ($23,300) at the end of March 2021.
Unfortunately, the damage done is worth at least £14,000 ($19,800) leaving the car written off by their insurance company.
“This is my fifth Mercedes, I’ve had them for the last 15 years. I’ve never had anything like this happen before,” Paul said. “It almost puts me off getting another one. I’d be better just having a £500 ($700) banger on the drive for them to steal.”
“I just want people to be aware this is happening. I could have done things like put the car around the back of the house but I think they’d have still done what they did,” Paul continued. “They didn’t take the car, which would have been better for me probably. It’s fitted with a tracker so we could have found it.”
“When you’ve never seen anything like this before, it really does come as a shock.point 191 | Some people might not be able to take the shock that I saw yesterday morning,” Paul said.point 266 |
“These people just don’t care.point 34 | They’ve got no feeling for anybody.point 70 | Instead of getting a proper job like everyone else, they think it’s quicker to steal.point 147 | ”point 150 | 1