Portsmouth businessman turns 'detective' to catch brazen men who took air conditioning units feels ‘unsafe’ after men return to warehouse
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Bruce Chau, general manager at Beyond Acoustic at Pioneer Park, off Portfield Road in Portsmouth, was horrified when CCTV showed two men driving into the business park in a white low-loader, and then wandering into his warehouse.
As reported, the footage from last Wednesday morning August 3 around 8am shows the men helping themselves to two packaged-up Lexent Sprint air conditioning units that sell for £599 each before driving off.
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Hide AdThe men were seen again outside the warehouse on Monday morning - not long after The News published a story on the incident.
Mr Chau said that the men were both short-haired and stockily built. Both looked like they were in their 30s. One wore a dark T-shirt and dark trousers, and the other a light-coloured T-shirt and dark shorts.
He has since taken things upon himself to find those responsible and has established two identities that he says have been confirmed by different sources.
But despite going to police with the information, he remains frustrated by the lack of action.
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Hide AdHe said: ‘Police said there has been no progress due to staff shortages. I’ve found all the information for them and done their job like a detective but they have done nothing.
‘I’m not sure why they are so slow when they have everything they need.
‘We feel unsafe at the warehouse. On Monday between 10am and 11am the men were seen outside the front of the warehouse in the same van.
‘These men need to be stopped before it happens again.’
The company imports goods from abroad – it started with music and lighting equipment but now deals with many types of products.
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Hide AdA police spokeswoman said: ‘We are investigating the incident and currently in the process of following a number of lines of enquiry in order to identify and locate those involved.’
Anyone with information is asked to call 101, quoting 44220312388.
Mr Chau added that the sales of air conditioning units have taken off this summer.
He said: ‘Last month, in two days we sold 600 on the Amazon Prime days, plus in just one week we sold more than 1,000.’