North West EP3 Stolen 30-JUL-08

I posted this a few days ago on CTRO, so some of you may have read this there, but I think its worth repeating here - its that serious.

There have incidents where EP3 owners have their homes broken into by a gang(s) using sledgehammers/axes to smash their way through front doors at night and their cars have then been used in Bank/Building Society robberies a couple of days later. There is at least one gang successfully operating using this technique the North West for an extended period and they appear to be specifically targeting the EP3's.

To be more specific the gang appears to be targeting the Warrington North, Wigan and Leigh areas with the stolen cars heading down the East Lancs Road (A580) in the direction of Greater Manchester.

Recently a CTRO forum member was attacked in this way, his home being broken into by 3 men armed with an axe and aluminum baseball bats (the axe was used to defeat two locks and a security chain). After getting the keys they proceeded to gratuitously beat the owner with the baseball bats which resulted in him requiring medical attention. Hospital staff has said that he was lucky that his femur wasn't broken. As he had only returned home a few minutes earlier, it seems very likely that he was being watched.

Whether it’s a co-incidence that this has happened to several forum members or whether the gang is actively reading CTRO is impossible to say, but you should be very careful about giving out too much personal/location details on the here e.g. Street names or places that you regularly go, particularly if you are in the NW area.

You might want to review where you keep your keys at night, balancing off preventing letterbox fishing with a more determined attack such as this.

Be under no illusion, you are not going to keep your car if you are targeted by this type of thief - your goal should be to ensure the safety of your family by keeping your distance from these people.

The member mentioned is this thread is OK but wishes to remain anonymous.

Seano

That's seriously not good, it makes the fact that the police station is very near where I live a good thing (normally something I moan about because it means traffic cars seem to be everywhere as they go to and from the station).

It still puzzles me why they'd pick a 3dr car (with no torque!) though, something like a 5dr Focus 2.5 ST would be a far better option with it's large boot and bags of torque, plus they don't stand out too much at all.

CTR_Paul said:

something like a 5dr Focus 2.5 ST would be a far better option plus they don't stand out too much at all.

Click to expand...

unless they re in that hideous orange colour people pay extra for...

CTR_Paul said:

It still puzzles me why they'd pick a 3dr car (with no torque!) though, something like a 5dr Focus 2.5 ST would be a far better option with it's large boot and bags of torque, plus they don't stand out too much at all.

Click to expand...

well the point is

1. once in the sweet spot / vtec the ep3 is a match for most
2. an ep3 handles very well and does have a decent size boot
3. and most important

unlike a lot of fast / hot hatches the ep3 wont stand out like Michael Jackson at a kiddies party

To be honest, they pick anything with a bit of grunt, anything from mitsi L200 (for ram raiding) right thru, as long as it is pretty new, The MO has been 'taking keys' for a long while now, as car security improves, it puts the owner/driver at even more risk.

It even got to the point where, innocent people were advertising their cars on Autotrader/Pistoneheads/ebay and ***** with weapons would demand the keys...... Just be aware that they are always watching us. ****ers.

Cants.

I got a Louisville Slugger resting on my radiator, waiting.

:evil:

:evil: bad times :evil:

Let us(the hard working and law-abiding)have the tools to defend ourselves from these attacks and many others that go on.

And put the law on our side not the criminals.

Then things would change.