Man in disbelief after car stripped for second time

A man whose car was stripped of parts outside his home said he felt disbelief that it had happened for a second time.

Jeremy Merckel's Volkswagen Golf (GTI) was targeted again in the early hours of last Wednesday outside his home in Sutton Coldfield, where a man was caught on camera carrying the bumper down the street.

"I don't know how to stop this from happening again, it seems to be an epidemic," Mr Merckel said.

West Midlands Police said it was committed to identifying and arresting those responsible for stripping parts from parked cars.

Mr Merckel was first a victim of the offence, which is known as car cannibalism, in September 2023. He said his insurance had almost doubled as a result.

He said he had received a crime number from police but heard nothing else.

It happened to his car for a second time last week. He said this time police had visited him and took a statement.

A West Midlands Police spokesperson said: "We are investigating after a car was stripped of its parts - widely known as car cannibalism.

The force added that CCTV inquiries were ongoing to identify who was responsible.

Mr Merckel said two other people on his street had also had their cars stripped in the past.

"It just makes me really angry, because it is my car, my property and people think they can just help themselves," he added.

Mr Merckel's car was taken to be repaired at PJ Rhodes Repairs in the town.

Keith Ward from the garage said it was "not a victimless crime".

He said: "For us as a business, yeah it's great but what it will do will put our business insurance up as well as our personal insurance if we park on the premises."

Mr Ward added that ironically, one of their pick-up trucks had been stripped of some of its parts on Sunday night.

"These guys are incredibly quick and in the main they don't cause damage," he said.

The garage saw a spike in these cases after the Covid pandemic but it was mainly smaller vehicles such as Vauxhall Corsas.

Now Jaguars and Range Rovers were being hit, Mr Ward said.

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