Thieves steal cars after Headington burglary

3:52pm Tuesday 2nd December 2008

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Police are advising residents to not leave their car keys on display near their front door after two high-value cars were stolen in Headington early today.

At some time between 12.30am and 8am, a set of keys were stolen from a house in Old Road without any signs of burglars gaining entry to the property. Using the keys, a Porsche Boxster and a Mercedes E220 estate were stolen from outside the house.

PC Karl Ralph, of the Oxford Burglary Team, said: “The most likely way these keys were stolen was by someone pushing some kind of tool through the letterbox and hooking the keys, which had been left in view on a table near the front door.

“This type of ‘vamoose’ car theft is not a common crime in Oxford but I would like to take this opportunity to advise local people not to leave their keys where thieves can easily see them and reach them.

“It is one of the simplest security measures you can take to not to leave your car keys or house keys on show and to keep them out of sight.

“Can I also ask for anyone who saw suspicious activity in the Old Road area of Headington in the early hours of today to contact me.”

PC Ralph can be contacted via the Police Enquiry Centre on 0845 8 505 505.

If you don’t want to talk to police and don’t want to leave your name, call the Crimestoppers charity anonymously on 0800 555 111.