A woman has described the frightening moment she says a man on a large motorbike rode at speed along a pavement in Harrow Weald before grabbing another woman around the neck and taking her mobile phone.
The reported incident happened at around 8am to 9am on Monday, September 28, close to the Courtney Avenue and Long Elmes junction.
The witness had just dropped her child off at school and was walking home with another parent when she says the motorbike came up behind them on the pavement.
She told Harrow Online: “After dropping my child at school, I was walking home with another school mum. We had crossed the zebra crossing on Courtney Avenue and had just turned onto Long Elmes when a man on a large motorbike came speeding up behind us on the actual pavement/footpath.
“He was travelling extremely fast and I only noticed him at the last second. He came so close to us that we quickly moved into the bush/fence area to avoid being hit. He then carried on speeding up the path.”
Woman with buggy allegedly targeted
The witness said that shortly afterwards she saw what appeared to be the same man approach another woman who was pushing a buggy.
She said: “Shortly afterwards, I saw what appeared to be the same man approach a mum who was pushing a buggy. He grabbed her around the neck and took her mobile phone before speeding away up the path.
“She screamed and then ran home with the buggy. She looked extremely distressed.”
She added: “It was honestly very frightening, and I feel very lucky that we noticed the motorbike at the last second and were able to get out of the way.”
Witness describes motorcyclist
The witness said she was able to see the man’s face at close range.
She said: “I saw his face up close. He was a Black male, around his early 20s. His balaclava was just over his mouth, so his eyes and nose were showing.
“I didn’t manage to get the reg number, unfortunately. He was wearing an open-face helmet and he was wearing a huge black coat.
“It wasn’t a moped or one of those electric bikes he was on, it was a massive motorbike.”
Harrow Online has seen a receipt confirming that a report concerning the incident was submitted to the Met Police.
Met declines to provide statement
Harrow Online contacted the Met for further information about the reported incident.
The force said it would not provide an individual statement under its new media Service Level Statement.
The Met said: “As you know, the Met receives thousands of media enquiries each month and must prioritise those involving the highest levels of threat, risk and harm.
“We recognise offences such as this can have a significant impact on victims. However, we are unable to provide responses to individual incidents of this nature unless there are circumstances that elevate the public interest, such as a linked series of offences, significant community impact or wider concerns around trust and confidence.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information that could assist police can contact the Metropolitan Police.
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Chris Mitchell is the founder and editor of Harrow Online, Harrow’s leading local news platform.
He launched Harrow Online in 2010 as a Facebook page sharing local news and information. Since then, it has grown into a trusted source for breaking news, crime, council decisions, planning, transport, business and community stories across the borough.
Harrow Online reaches hundreds of thousands of readers each month and has a social media audience of more than 200,000 followers.
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