Mum's horror as son, 10, shoved out of way during brazen defrosting car theft

06 December 2023 , 11:24

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Kasia Wasilewska, 34, says she had only briefly popped back into the house before the horror unfolded (Image: Pete Stonier / Stoke Sentinel)

A mum-of-one was horrified to return from defrosting her car to find her son had been knocked over by a thief who stole the vehicle.

Kasia Wasilewska, 34, says she had only briefly popped back into the house in Stoke-on-Trent to get an ice scraper when the terrifying incident unfolded. She said she had left the engine running to defrost her car before taking her son Fabian, 10, to church on Sunday morning. The Mum explained the ordeal to Stoke on Trent Live in the hope of saving others from the dangers of leaving a car engine running to defrost vehicles during icy weather.

Kasia Wasilewska who had her Nissan Juke stolen from outside her house (Pete Stonier / Stoke Sentinel)

Kasia left Fabian clutching the car keys next to the vehicle, but then came out of the house to find her son shaken up and the vehicle, which was parked on the road outside the house, gone. Fabian told her a man had suddenly approached him, grabbing the car keys and pushing him out of the way.

Kasia's bank card, ID and driving licence were also in the car, with the thief even attempting to use Kasia's card to buy a Greggs at a nearby petrol station. A 49-year-old man, from Stoke-on-Trent, has been arrested on suspicion of taking a car without the owner’s consent.

Kasia, who works for a debt collection agency in Stoke, said: "What has happened to us is horrible. It's such a shock. Fabian was pushed out of the way. He was in shock because he didn't know what was going on. Thankfully he wasn't hurt but he's still thinking this was his fault when I explained there is nothing he could have done. I'd been taking snow off the windscreen and went back in the house to get something to clear the front windscreen.

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"When I came back outside I said what's going on and at first I thought the car had skidded along the road because of the ice. My son said a man had told him to get out of the way, taken the keys out of his hand, pushed him out of the way and then jumped into the car. The car was driven off and I called the police straightaway. An attempt was made to use my bank card at a Greggs at a petrol station on Longton Hall Road in Blurton about 40 minutes later."

Inspector Mark Burslem, from the Stoke South local policing team, said that the cold weather has brought an increased number of reports of attempted vehicle thefts whilst cars are being left to defrost. He said its worth weighing up the convenience of leaving your car running for a few minutes versus the convenience of people stealing your vehicle.

Kasia added: "We were getting ready to go to church to do preparation for my son's Holy Communion and we were going to go out for tea and cake afterwards. We couldn't go as we had to wait for police to speak to us." Kasia's friend Piotr Nowakowski added that Kasia had worked hard to save up for the car and it was a big shock and very stressful for this to happen to her and Fabian.

A Staffordshire Police spokesperson said: "We have arrested a man after a car was stolen whilst it was defrosting in Stoke-on-Trent. It happened just before 10.45am on Sunday. A woman was defrosting her Nissan Juke in Bentilee. Her son was holding the keys when he was approached by a man who grabbed them off him and drove off.

"We started work straight away to track the car. It was found near Northcote Street on Monday (December 4). A 49-year-old man, from Stoke-on-Trent, has been arrested on suspicion of taking a car without the owner’s consent. He is being questioned about what happened in custody today (5 December)."

Angela Ferguson