Here’s what happened
Caroline Jimenez, her husband and their 10-month-old baby were out walking when they were targeted by London’s moped gang, in Chelsea on Saturday.
Ms Jimenez and her husband were out pushing their daughter in a pram when a moped with two males, wearing balaclava’s rode past.
She said: “We were just walking around Chelsea enjoying the sunshine, we’d been shopping and we entered the street because it looked nice.
“I saw two men, I thought they looked weird and I was a little scared but there were other people and I thought, ‘This is Chelsea, in the middle of the afternoon. Nothing is going to happen.’”
The moped followed the family as they walked on Sprimont Place, near Sloane Avenue, Saturday at approximately 3:30 in the afternoon.
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Ms Jimenez said: “They passed next to us and I thought it was OK but then they came back and the passenger on the back started to run towards us with a huge knife.
“We started to scream, my husband stayed in front of him, and I started to run away with my daughter because I was pushing the pram.”
Mr Jimenez threw his watch at the moped thief in an attempt for them to leave, Ms Jimenez said: “When I turned around the guy was coming towards me and then he put the knife to my daughter and I gave him my watch as well.”
“Our daughter did not know what the knife was but she could feel we were upset and she cried. We’ll never forget the image of that man with the knife.”
Police were quick to respond and said to the couple that they are powerless to chase them due to strict laws and guidelines that are in place.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Police are investigating a moped-enabled robbery.”
The moped thieves fled towards Elystan Place, they were white and wore black crash helmets, navy tracksuits and black Nike trainers. There have been no arrests.
Source: @LondonLovesBiz
Ms Jimenez said to the Standard: “We have just moved here so I do not know what the rules are but I am furious the police cannot protect us.
“The police said we were the fourth people to be attacked that day. I just do not understand how the police cannot do anything, it is ridiculous.
“Now the anger is taking over. They knew exactly what they were doing, threatening a baby, the parents are going to do everything to protect her.”
Ms Jimenez has written to the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to do more to protect people in London.
She wrote:
“I am therefore asking you, Sadiq Khan, as Mayor of London, what are you waiting for? When will you take action to protect your citizens and, in particular, the weaker ones, children and the elderly?
“Mr Khan, as a father and the mayor of London, do you find it acceptable that a baby can be threatened with a knife on the streets of your city on a Saturday afternoon? I am asking because the police are not permitted to chase these gang members.
“According to you, Mr Khan, who is the victim? The attacker? The question might seem ridiculous but it is clear from the impotence of the police that it is the attacker that is being protected, not the people and children being assaulted.
“Mr Khan, are you taking responsibility for letting the moped gangs escape? Don’t you think that in a way you are an accomplice by not ensuring the police are afforded the authority and the resources they need to catch these dangerous criminals?”
The rise in moped enabled crime has risen an estimated 1,766 per cent, since 2014, there are 54 thefts happening on the streets of London every day by moped gangs.
Source: @LondonLovesBiz
Up to May this year there was staggering 8,192 recorded crimes from moped and scooter gangs, that five-month period nearly matches all the recorded scooter crime from 2016.
In July, this year Superintendent Mark Payne said to The sun newspaper: “The thieves practice snatching phones from each other on stolen mopeds before heading on to the streets.
“They aim to snatch a phone while a victim is talking so the device is unlocked and they can reset it and sell it on.
“Or they will steal a phone which is locked and sell it for its parts. It is a big market.
“A large proportion of thefts are carried out around train stations where people will look at their phone for emails and messages before and after journeys.”
Payne further said that an estimated 20 phones an hour are being stolen, due to the training that moped and scooter gang undertake they can easily spot and identify a mobile phone from 30 metres.
With 20 phones an hour being stolen, they are making an average of around £2,000 a day, and most who are caught are rarely sent to jail, who said crime doesnt pay.
In August a driver was in Kensington when the scooter gang targetted him whilst driving his car.
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The driver was clever and out manouvered them, they rode off empty handed. The driver reported it to the police and was told they will report it to the right team.
Source: @LondonLovesBiz
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