Shocking footage shows moment moped muggers hit pedestrian to steal £211,000 watch in terrifying 45-minute spree
23 March 2023, 10:21 | Updated: 23 March 2023, 10:43
Footage shows moment moped drivers ram man in Mayfair in broad daylight
Shocking footage has captured the moment a pedestrian was barrelled to the ground by two muggers on a moped before they stole his £210,000 watch - as part of a terrifying 45-minute crime spree through Mayfair in London.
Andrei Karkar was walking along Curzon Street in Mayfair, west London, after going shopping when he was targeted by two teenagers on mopeds.
CCTV footage captured the moment one of the teens drove onto the pavement and rammed into Mr Karkar, while the other held him to the ground.
He was kicked and punched by the pair as they stole his Patek Philippe watch, estimated to be work around £210,000.
Two masked thieves had been riding through the streets of central London hunting for wealthy victims wearing luxury watches or other high-value targets.
Shortly before Mr Karkar was robbed, Michael McKeown nearly had his £75,000 Audemars Piguet watch stolen.
During the attempted robbery, Mr McKeown's wife Juste was held at knifepoint after trying to intervene, Southwark crown court was told.
The Crown Prosecution Service released footage of the attack after the conviction of Ronnie Reid, who was one of the two moped drivers in the footage.
Reid and his 15-year-old accomplice, who wore a Deliveroo outfit as a disguise, chased and rammed victims in incidents of shocking violence.
"This shows how brazen the two were, and the appalling violence they were prepared to deploy", prosecutor Dickon Reid told the court.
In the footage used to convict Reid, jurors saw the thieves set out on mopeds from a garage in Finsbury Park, heading for the streets of Belgravia and Mayfair.
Brothers Justin and Bradley Rizza were targeted just after 4pm as they walked through Cadogan Square wearing Rolex watches.
"Justin Rizza was confronted by Reid who screamed aggressively ‘what have you got?’ and tried to get him to hand over items", Mr Reid added.
"Mr Rizza described trying to seek some form of protection by moving between parked cars, and said the moped rider was trying to run him over."
The gang also targeted a Bugatti Chiron owned by Abdullah Al Basman, with the 15-year-old taking a hammer to its side window.
They then tried to target Auday Tokatly for his Rolex close to Harrods but were thwarted as he managed to flee and found protection from the store’s security guards.
After Al Basman’s supercar was attacked on Park Lane, they targeted Michael McKeown for his £75,000 Audemars Piguet watch.
The final target was Mr Karkar who was knocked to the ground before his luxury watch was stolen.
Reid, from Finsbury Park was convicted of damaging property, having an offensive weapon, four counts of dangerous driving, threatening another with an offensive weapon, and robbery.
A 15-year-old, who cannot be identified due to his age, has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, criminal damage, possessing an offensive weapon, robbery and five counts of attempted robbery.
Reid is set to be sentenced in May.
