Moment man confronts clueless criminals with yard brush to protect his motorbike

30 September 2023 , 20:33

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This is the moment Karl fights off thieves with a yard brush

A man who confronted thugs trying to steal his motorbike with a yard brush claimed the police told him they were not allowed to chase them if it had been stolen.

According to Karl Deeter, the incident, which was captured on CCTV and posted on social media, took place outside his office in the north inner city Dublin on Monday at around 5.30pm.

Clueless, the thick thieves attempted to “bump start” the vehicle, which is a common method to steal them. However, they didn't realise that Karl's motorbike was electric, which made bump-started a pointless thing to do. The thugs broke Mr Deeter’s steering lock and caused around €200 worth of damage during the attempted robbery which lasted less than 30 seconds.

The footage shows four thugs on two bikes pulling up. One of them gets off and begins fumbling with Karl’s bike in a bid to try and get it started. They appear to give up and flee just as two men run out from the office, shortly before Karl emerges with a yard brush.

“I was in the office for about two hours last Monday and I just heard people shouting, ‘Karl, your bike’. So I was running for the door and I just grabbed a brush but I didn’t get to them in time," the 48-year-old financial analyst told the Irish Mirror.

Tragedy as 13-month-old boy dies after the stolen car he was in crashed

The theives reportedly caused €200 worth of damage

"I know why they went for it but they have no brain if you’re trying to bump start an electric bike, that’s like trying to pour petrol into a Tesla. They are literally Dublin’s thickest criminals.”

Mr Deeter was told by the gardai they have a “do not engage policy” when it comes to trying to apprehend thugs in stolen vehicles in case the pursuit causes a crash or a fatality.

Karl was told by the gardai they have a “do not engage policy” when it comes to trying to apprehend thugs in stolen vehicles (© City Headshots Dublin 2021)

“Afterwards, people were saying to me if I’d hit them with the yard brush I’d of been in the wrong," he added. “I don’t care if the police can’t take on these thugs. I think people shouldn’t be afraid to do it themselves."

“They are literally as smart as a woodworm chewing on a brick but had they figured out how to do it, he guards would have just let them have it and hoped that someday my bike gets fished out of the canal or not burned or found down an alleyway and it might make its way back to me eventually."

In Mr Deeter's view, it's a "great way" of evading the cops, and criminals are making the most of it. "The cops can’t engage and the criminals know this. They cottoned on to that ages ago. The guards told me they have a ‘do not engage policy’ where these thieves are on motorbikes.” The gardai were contacted for comment.

Danny De Vaal