AN Andersonstown convenience store owner has shared a CCTV still of a pair of thieves who stole a wheel from his work van.
Ambrose O'Neill, owner of The Popular on Berneagh Drive, took to social media in a bid to identify two men involved in the incident outside the shop on Monday.
The brass-necked criminals struck in broad daylight, removing the bolts from the wheel and leaving the van propped up on a concrete block. CCTV footage captured from a neighbouring house shows them making off in their own white van.
"A girl across the street saw somebody at the van and she thought they were fixing the wheel, and she phoned me afterwards," Ambrose explained.
"I'd have thought that myself if I saw it in the middle of the day. I went out to see what was going on and it was like something in New York with the thing sitting up on a breeze block."
He added: "They just threw it in the back of the van and away they went."
Ambrose suspects those involved may have been watching the van and waiting for an opportunity to act.
"That wasn't just done out of the blue," he said.
"Obviously they needed a wheel because me trying to get a wheel last night was a nightmare."
He thanked his customers for reaching out following the theft.
"Customers came in to see if things were ok, there were people coming down with wheels from their own cars to see if they would fit," he said.
"One thing about the area is that you're never stuck for help."
