By Prolific Peterborough car thief admits crime spree
A prolific car thief who stole ten cars worth more than £200,000 combined using sophisticated equipment has admitted to a crime spree in Peterborough.
Valdas Raudis, 43, was identified during a police investigation where he was linked to keyless car thefts across the city.
The investigation found that he and Paulius Puras (pictured) had used specialist equipment to scan and obtain victims’ car key fob frequencies from within houses and drive the vehicles away without detection.
It is alleged that Raudis committed similar thefts in Lithuania and Germany. These most recent thefts took place between 13 June and 18 October last year.
Six out of the ten vehicles were recovered by police after the defendants hid them in car parks across Peterborough.
Raudis was arrested on the 5th of March at his home in Peterborough. A cannabis production farm valued at £12,700 was found at the property. £11,655 in cash was seized.
He appeared at Peterborough Crown Court on the 3rd of April where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal motor vehicles, production of cannabis, possession of criminal property and abstracting electricity.
He is due to reappear for sentencing today.
Police Constable Craig Trevor of Cambridgeshire Constabulary said:
“This result today comes from nine months of investigation into Raudis and Puras’ criminal activities committing keyless vehicle thefts. Their actions had a significant impact on the victims as most of the vehicles stolen were family SUV’s so parents were left without transport to go to work or take their children to school.
We are committed to disrupting organised crime and I am pleased today Raudis has been brought to justice for his actions.
Raudis and Puras took advantage of flaws in modern vehicle security. I would highly recommend all owners of keyless entry/start vehicles in Cambridgeshire look at purchasing foil-lined pouches for both sets of their vehicle’s key fobs to block them from emitting a frequency and also consider securing their vehicles with low-tech items such as ‘pedal boxes’ which block offenders from accessing the ignition pedal at night.”
Contact Gi Peterborough
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