E-bike attacker arrested by London police after stealing 24 people’s phones during day of crime

A prolific attacker riding a speeding electric bike who snatched the mobile phones of 24 people during a day of crime in central London has been brought to justice after being followed by police on CCTV and arrested while he was trying to escape.

Sonny Stringer, 28, from Islington, had already stolen the phones of victims in Baker Street, Edgware Road, Cromwell Place, Grosvenor Place, Regent Street, Orange Street, Victoria Road and Piccadilly in just over 24 hours, when the police were intercepted. called about another robbery he had just committed on Blackfriars Bridge.

Stringer and an unknown accomplice were soon spotted on CCTV riding their Sur-Run electric bikes, reaching speeds of almost 50 mph.

Stringer was about to walk up the sidewalk towards a family with a buggy when officers made “tactical contact” with the rear wheel of his bike and caused him to fall.

He tried to run away, but stopped when he was threatened with a Taser. A bag he threw away during his detention contained 22 phones. Two others that he had dropped when he was knocked down were also recovered.

He reportedly broke his kneecap during the incident. His accomplice fled and is still being hunted.

Stringer has now pleaded guilty at Isleworth Crown Court to ten counts of theft covering all 24 phones, as well as dangerous driving and driving without insurance.

The offenses cover a period of just over 24 hours starting with the assault on Baker Street at 10.15am on March 26 and ending with the assault on Blackfriars Bridge at 11.15am the following day.

Stringer will be sentenced in August.

City of London Chief Superintendent Rob Atkin said: “The successful capture and prosecution of a prolific phone thief demonstrates the City of London Police’s focus on detecting and bringing to justice those who rob people on our streets,” he said.

“This was a team effort from our enforcement team who tracked criminals on surveillance video and communicated with officers on the ground, right through to responding officers who made critical law enforcement decisions. risk to protect the public and make an arrest.

“Phone thefts have a significant impact on victims and our main priority has been to reduce the number of phones stolen and relentlessly target the criminals responsible.

Lyn Newins, from the City of London Police control room, said she responded to the call to report the assault at Blackfriars Bridge which led to Stringer’s arrest and described how the successful attempt to find him had come once his colleague spotted him on police CCTV. cameras.

“I received a call from a member of the public who had witnessed a phone theft on the south side of Blackfriars Bridge,” she said.

“My colleague Damon said he had the suspects on our cameras. I quickly began relaying the information to agents on the ground. In the control room we can manage the position of the cameras ourselves, which is very useful and speeds up our ability to track down criminals.

“We rolled the cameras on Cheapside and informed officers of the phone thieves’ path. I remember saying that they were “going like fighters” and seeing members of the public having to avoid being hit by them.

“When we saw that officers had apprehended one of the suspects, it was a huge sense of accomplishment for everyone involved. When working under control, sometimes you don’t hear about successes because they tend to happen later. Being a part of it and seeing that they collected so many phones was a big victory.

“Sadly I speak with many victims of phone thieves and losing their phone is devastating for them. People have their world on their phones and it’s not a minor crime for them. I spoke to one of the victims who called to say we had his phone. It was nice to know that we played a part in getting the money back to them. »