Man attempts citizen's arrest on moped thief, police say 'let him go'

EVERY DAY there are countless more cases of attempted and successful motorcycle theft. 

Our Facebook newsfeeds are filled with pleas for information or the return of stolen bikes, many of which are the victim's only form of transport. And when someone loses their mode of transportation, they often lose their jobs too. 

And with the police seeming to make little progress against the moped-enabed crimewave, riders are starting to take matters into their own hands. 

But it seems that even when riders manage to catch the culprits red-handed and apprehend them, the police has no interest. 

One London rider did just that, but was shocked when the police told him that he had no right to restrain the thief or to stop him stealing the bike. 

Posting in The UK Motorcycle Theft Protest, Charlie Staples wrote: 

"I truly give up London police force ! Catch two c**ts stealing bike was able to stop them and pin one of them down and in the end he didn’t wanna move !

"Called police at 1.12 and by 1.27 I got phone called back to be told I couldn’t hold them and I had no right to stop him stealing bike ! I couldn’t believe my ears! Full blown argument with officer on the phone was told to let them go as they couldn’t send officer for 2 hours !!

"You gotta f***ing kidding me !"

When contacted by Visordown, Charlie commented: "It wasn’t my bike it was someone else's KTM RC390 with just a disk lock on the front.

"I haven’t heard anything from the police and even though I did try to take it further I haven’t had much luck."

Visordown has contacted the MET for comment.