20 February 2024 , 17:04
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A woman was left in shock after police allegedly told her to retrieve her stolen £30,000 Lexus car herself.
Alexandra Vlad, 32, woke up on February 6 to find her Lexus UX missing from her driveway in Newham, East London. Using a tracking app on her phone, she found the last known location of her car in Hackney, about six miles away. She called the police and provided all the information but claims she was then instructed to go and get the car herself.
Alexandra, who works in corporate finance, said: "I was more shaken by the experience of dealing with the police than the car being stolen itself. I told them what happened, and that I could see the last location of the engine. They told me they wouldn’t be there for at least an hour. It was a dodgy part of Hackney. I felt unsafe."
She claims the police advised her to go and see if her car was parked but told her not to approach if someone was in it, and to call them when she was there. She believes they put her in a dangerous position, and says they showed little regard for her safety. When she arrived at the scene, her car was parked up.
Alexandra Vlad's stolen Lexus UX that she tracked using an app (Alexandra Vlad/SWNS)Alexandra said: "I called them and told them it was there - they said that’s great! Is it running?" Alexandra, originally from Romania, decided to take matters into her own hands and approached the car. She found it completely empty with no petrol left and warning lights flashing on the dashboard.
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She said: "I had no idea what I'd find inside. Drugs? A dead body? The police just told me to go to a garage. It was really unhelpful it made me more anxious." Alexandra is speaking out because she's unhappy with how a public body treated her. She added: "I was baffled. You pay taxes to pay for police - just to leave it to us to sort out. What are we even paying for?"
The attempted removal of the tracker from the Lexus UX (Alexandra Vlad/SWNS)The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "On Tuesday, February 6 we received a report that a car had been stolen from outside a house in E13. The owner later contacted us to say she had traced the car and collected it. Enquiries continue."