The moment a ‘thief’ barged into an Essex shop was captured on a doorbell camera – as the ‘shaken up’ victim appeals for help and issues a safety warning.
Ellie O’Connor, who owns home interior store Ellie’s Finishing Touches, shared a post on social media showing the moment a man barged into her shop on Main Road in Gidea Park earlier this month.
The footage, captured on a doorbell camera, shows a man wearing a black coat, black trousers and black trainers approaching the shop just after 4pm on December 3.
His face is clearly captured on the camera when he rings the bell, which Ms O’Connor answers to advise him that the shop is closed.
But, the footage then shows him forcing his way into the store, before making his way to the back. Ms O’Connorsays that he then took her mobile phone before leaving the shop.
Taking to Instagram, she wrote of her ordeal, urging women in the area to ‘be careful’.
‘Earlier today at 4pm [December 3] this man knocked at my shop door’, she wrote. ‘I told him I was closed and he requested a leaflet. I locked the door and returned to give him said leaflet.
‘I only had the door edged open because I was on my own but he continued to speak in broken English forcing himself in pretending he wanted to buy something.
Ms O’Connor’s doorbell camera captured the man very clearly as he knocked on her shop door
The man, wearing a black coat, black trousers and black shoes approached the shop in Essex just after 4pm on December 3
Ms O’Connor said she answered the door and advised that the shop was closed
Ms O’Connor said the man barged his way into the store despite being told it was now closed
‘I stood at the front door as I was scared stiff and kept asking him to leave but he pretended to not understand me. He then made his way to the back of the shop and kept trying to lure me back there to ‘show me’ something, to ‘buy something’ and to ‘make appointment’ this was an out of sight area so I stood at the front as I was scared of what he might do.
‘Luckily after 10 minutes of trying he left and said he would ‘come back tomorrow’. The unfortunate thing is that I then realised he had stolen my phone.
‘I’m thankful this was all that happened as the phone is just materialistic. It could have been a lot worse had I followed him to the back of the shop
‘Local people please be careful, especially any women on their own. Please look out for this man and let me or the police know if and where you see him.
‘I’m quite a tough person but this has really shaken me up, you never really know what you’ll do until you’re in a situation like that!’
It comes following a spate of phone thefts in nearby Swale and Medway.
Kent Police have issued an appeal alongside the CCTV image captured by Ms O’Connor’s doorbell camera, after multiple thefts in the area, three of which happened in Sittingbourne on December 5.
Ms Meyers said the man ‘pretended he didn’t understand’ her when asked to leave the store
He left around 10 minutes after he first entered the shop and walked off to the left
Ms Meyers realised her phone was missing after he left and went to see where he had gone
Police say a man entered separate hairdressers in town and enquired about an appointment for his partner. Staff later realised their phones had been taken while they were distracted.
Later on the same afternoon, a similar theft was reported at a hairdressers in Strood.
Inspector Allen Searle said: ‘We are treating these incidents as linked as in each case staff at the businesses had phones stolen while they were distracted by a potential customer.
‘We are now issuing an image of a man who may be able to assist our enquiries and are urging anybody who recognises him to get in touch with us.’
Anyone with information should call Kent Police on 01795 419119, quoting reference 46/206483/24.
MailOnline has contacted Essex Police for comment.
