UK resident Steve Bendon started the New Year with the discovery that his beloved Vespa scooter, a 40th birthday present from his wife, had been stolen from his garage. By tracing the tracks in the frosted roadway, Bendon was able to locate both the Vespa and the thief, who lived in a nearby housing community. When Bendon called police they advised him not to take any action himself for the sake of safety. The next day Bendon received a call from local police advising him that the scooter had been involved in an accident and had been impounded as stolen property. Bendon was charged nearly $400 USD to get his damaged Vespa off the impound lot.

According to a police spokesperson, “We carry out a risk assessment on every incident which is reported to us and respond in the appropriate way… In this instance - a burglary at a garage which had been left insecure - we placed a marker on this vehicle on the police national computer but did not attend the address.” Moral of the story: If you own a really cool Vespa (at least in the UK), lock your garage!