Two men broke into FlowTech Exhausts & Welding on the Chadwell Heath Industrial Park on Monday night between 01:10 and 01:38.
They started to force the front shutter but couldn’t get in, so they scaled the roof of the office next door. Once onto the roof of FlowTech, they ripped out one of the skylights and dropped into the workshop.
All the keys to customers’ vehicles that were on site were taken, along with the keys to the workshop and office. They also attempted to take the laptop, but left it.
Once outside and in the compound area in front of the garage, they tried to figure out which keys went with what vehicle before then using one of the customer’s cars to ram the security gates – which had been installed as an additional safety measure during Covid, due to a lot of suspicious activity and vehicle break-ins in the area.
Luckily, the padlock held, even though it was nearly sheared through. At this time, CCTV picked up a Police car with its lights on approaching the area. This must have startled the two men. One escaped on foot while the other was still in the customer’s vehicle.
He jumped out as it was still moving, causing it to roll back and hit another customer’s car and the wall of the office.
It took the team at FlowTech most of Tuesday to repair the front security gates, and other local businesses have helped them to beef up security inside the workshop.
Damage to the customer’s car used to smash the gates is estimated to be at least £1,500, which FlowTech have said they will fix out of their own pocket.
The vehicles targeted were a fairly new Smart Car, an older but high-value Mercedes and a Citroen.
A nearby resident contacted FlowTech this morning to let them know they had found a set of keys in their back garden, which they believe to be related to the break-in.
If you can identify the man caught in the CCTV image above, notably his star-shaped tattoo on the back right side of his neck or saw anyone around 01:10 – 01:38 (on Monday 19th) on or near Kemp Road in Dagenham please call Dagenham Police Station – 020 7230 1212.
