Shameless thieving neighbor caught on camera stealing fruits and vegetables from 86-year-old disabled man’s yard
- Photo taken by neighbor shows woman stealing tomato from pensioner, 86
- The thief has been snatching from the petite man’s well-maintained allotment garden all summer
- Charles Nippard grows potatoes, cucumbers and strawberries with daughter
- Derri-Anne Beck posted a photo hoping it would shame the suspect, who called friends
This is when a shameless thief who has systematically plucked fruit and vegetables from a disabled retiree’s garden is caught in the act.
Charles Nippard, 86, had seen his prolific crop of potatoes, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and strawberries dwindle in the front yard this summer.
The disabled pensioner had blamed it on the warm weather – before a spirited neighbor saw a woman enter Poole, Dorset’s garden and run off with tomatoes.
They managed to snap a photo of the middle-aged woman leaving, holding broken vines laden with green tomatoes in both hands.
And judging by photos of her food posted to Facebook, it appears the woman has used her ill-gotten gains to make delicious-looking salads.
Charles Nippard cultivates a fertile fruit and vegetable crop with the help of his daughter Derri-Anne
Lively neighbor snapped a photo of the thief who stole tomatoes from the raised beds
Mr Nippard and daughter Derri-Anne Beck believe the green-fingered thief helped himself to a few pounds of their tomatoes.
They also believed she was responsible for the recent theft of about 40 red onions that they had put out of a rack to dry in the sun.
Ms Beck, 52, posted the photo on social media in hopes it would shame the perpetrator to stop.
She received numerous private messages back from people who gave the main suspect the same name.
Ms Beck said there was little point in going to the police and called on the woman directly to stop.
The father and daughter think the woman is also responsible for 40 missing red onions
She said: ‘She decimated about half the tomatoes and took about 40 red onions.
‘My father grows all the seedlings on his windowsills and I help him plant them in raised beds, maintain them and harvest them.
“He’s been doing it for years.
“Then about two weeks ago I looked at the tomato plants and thought ‘there aren’t as many of them as there should be’.
“But I’m just putting it down to the heat.
The beautiful allotment garden in the front yard is home to potatoes, tomatoes, onions and strawberries
“Then a neighbor came by and explained that from her window she had taken a photo with her cell phone of a woman stealing our tomatoes.
“You can clearly see this woman walking out of our yard with each hand full of green tomatoes.
‘We’ve had quite a few people give the same name as the person in the photo. It’s pretty obvious it’s her. I’m sure she’s been taking them for weeks.
“On her Facebook page are several photos of some of the salads she has made with the main meals and you wonder ‘are those our tomatoes?’
“The police do nothing. It’s just annoying. We put a lot of time and effort into growing our fruit and vegetables and people think they can help themselves.’