Land Rover Discovery driver pinches her OWN car back from thieves

Diver pinches her OWN car back from thieves: Motorist foils crooks after finding her stolen vehicle parked on street 1.9miles away from her home using GPS tracker

  • Jo Coombs discovered that her Land Rover Discovery was missing from car park
  • Her car is keyless and she admits she ‘stupidly’ did not buy a steering lock 
  • She told her insurance company who track her car with a GPS at all times
  • Under changed number plates her car found 1.9 miles away opened for her keys 

The owner of a Land Rover Discovery found her stolen vehicle parked on a street 1.9miles away from her home using a GPS tracker. 

Jo Coombs from Battersea was determined to get back her car that went missing from a private car park that you can only enter with a key code and is barred to the outside with big gates. 

She had always thought it would be ‘safe’ being parked there, even after car thefts in the area.

And when it was stolen she contacted the police, who she felt would not look for it, and later her insurance company which charges her based on the miles she drives. 

She realised that to calculate her bill every month a GPS is used in her car that records its every movement. 

Ms Coombs told the Sun she replayed where the Land Rover went and found it parked 1.9miles away and told police she was heading to pick it up. 

There she found her car with changed number plates and a smashed window but it opened for her keys and she was able to drive it away. 

The owner of a Land Rover Discovery found her stolen vehicle parked on a street 1.9miles away from her home using a GPS tracker

Before heading to the location, 1.9miles away from her home, she told police who let her go

When she got her car returned she drove from the scene she found the car to Haflords and bought a steering lock

Before heading to the location, 1.9miles away from her home, she told police who let her go. When she got her car returned she drove from the scene she found the car to Haflords and bought a steering lock

Before finding the car she monitored it through the insurance company’s app on her smartphone. 

Retracing its movement she could see the Land Rover was taken at 4.34am, driven for a bit and then parked in different places before it stopped 1.9miles away. 

She said: ‘I called the police again. They told me to get my keys and go and reclaim my car. I had thought they would go, but no apparently it was quicker if I did.

‘I got to the street indicated on the app not really expecting to find my car. Tucked around the corner, under a large tree was a blue Discovery Sport. I got closer, the number plates didn’t match mine, and it had a smashed wing mirror.

‘It did however open when I used my keys. The engine started, my number plates were inside the car, and apart from the wing mirror, some other minor scrapes, cleaned out glove and door compartments and stinking of cigarettes it was fine.’

Ms Coombs had considered buying a steering lock as she knows keyless car thefts can be commons for Land and Range Rovers but she admits ‘stupidly’ not looking into protection. 

However, straight after finding her car she drove to Halfords and bought a steering lock. 

She recommends people buy steering locks and use miles based insruance, which she also said came in handy during the pandemic when she was not driving as much. 

She added: ‘Turns out there’s a much bigger benefit.’