A man has posed as a police offer to steal a vehicle from a Merseyside car dealership.
The mysterious man contacted the garage in Prescot claiming he was interested in buying a Ford Focus. According to the Liverpool Echo, the supposed policeman asked if he could take the car to the police station around the corner to have it checked over before buying it but then drove off and never returned.
Trusting salespeople are just one way criminals will go about stealing from car dealerships, which is why it is so important that these businesses have a motor trade insurance policy in place to protect their stock against theft. Furthermore, for anyone offering test driving services, they will need to have demonstration cover as part of their combined motor trade insurance – this will only be valid if the test driver presents a valid driver’s license and is accompanied by a member of staff, something that will also reduce the chance of thefts like this.
Detective inspector Andy Milligan elaborated on the story: “The offender posed as a police officer and claimed he wanted to part exchange the Corsa for the Ford Focus Titanium which was white and had a Vehicle Registration of ML13 VZB.
“Our investigation quickly established that the Corsa which was left behind had been stolen in February 2014 but the Focus has still not been recovered.”
The incident dates back to October 2014 and police are now issuing renewed appeals for anyone with any information about the case to come forward.
