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Nightmare at the drive-thru
A young woman was terrified by a man pestering her for money at a McDonald’s drive-thru and damaged her car as she reversed into a bollard in a bid to escape him.
“There was one guy to start with,” said the woman’s father. “She placed her order, waiting to go through, and he came to her window demanding money.
“He wouldn’t go away – she sat there beeping her horn, but she it didn’t register for him to go away.
“Another guy appeared and stood in front her car, stopping her from going forward.
“She panicked and reversed her care into a bollard.”
The father – a Whittlesey businessman – said his distraught daughter rang him and he sped to the McDonald’s restaurant at Bourges Boulevard, Peterborough, to help her.
He found his 25-year-old daughter “visibly distressed” and her car badly damaged.
The father said a McDonald’s manager called police.
“I got there at about 12.40am and was there till 1am and in that time not one police officer turned up,” he said.
“The two men finally ran off but her before causing her some distress and alarm.”
The father said that after the first man appeared, demanding money, “the other guy just appeared from nowhere.
“It seems the main offender is there every night and even tries to get money from the delivery drivers. He goes round all the car parks, mainly confronting women with children and wants money from them.
“According to the manager whenever he gets some money he goes to a local supermarket and buys scratch cards or spends the money in a local arcade.
“What disturbs me is that the manager I spoke to said the man had been reported many times to police but nothing has been done.
“Presumably some people do give him money. I heard that one woman went to McDonald’s at the weekend and was eating her food in her parked car when this man banged hard on her window. When she said she said hadn’t got any money, he still wouldn’t go away.
“Luckily she had her dog in the car and when he started barking the man left.”
The father said: “I want the police do something about it – they are paid to do what they are paid to do.”
He said he originally tried to call Peterborough police station, then 101 “and it took 45 minutes for the call to be answered.
“They then told me my daughter had to make the complaint. I said I wasn’t making a complaint but wanted to talk to a senior police officer.
“They then told me someone would call me back – the following morning I got a text message from Cambridgeshire police, again telling me my daughter had to make the complaint herself.”
The father said he has obtained a photo of the suspect – and his daughter confirmed it, along with others who have seen it when it was posted to social media.
“We are all fairly certain it is him – what winds me up about this guy is that if I was to take the law into my own hands and deal with it, police would be down on me like a ton of bricks.”
Here’s a selection of some of the comments from others who the man has tried to obtain money from:
1: “I see this guy frequently on Lincoln Road, always asking for money and cigarettes – mainly early mornings between 5am and 6am. He was abusive to a Polish lady a few weeks ago”
2: “He’s a bloody pain in town, seems to appear everywhere. Came up to me and a friend while waiting for the bus one night. He really is quite creepy.”
3: “He used to appear from nowhere at the Eye roundabout, tapping on windows asking for money and I saw him again in a ASDA car park approaching people asking for money.”
4: “I saw this scrounging b****ard nearly every day. When he’s scrounged enough money, he goes into one of the cafes at the top of Lincoln Road, and puts it all into the fruit machines. He’s a parasite”.
5: “He did the same to me on Tuesday night in town I was with my grandson and son and luckily my son told him to do one!”
6: “He’s always in Waitrose car park tapping on car windows asking for money/food and even a place to stay. I have to lock myself in my car whilst he’s just standing there waiting for me to respond.”
7: “He stood in front of my car at 1am Wednesday morning at Bourges Boulevard too, asking me to wind down my window , extremely creepy . Something needs to be done.”
8: “This man occasionally stands at the Eye roundabout knocking on the car windows , I’ve told him to bugger off a few times after he’s scared my kids trying to open the door ! Horrible man.”
9: “He has approached me and my mum on separate occasions in Asda car park. He appears to target lone women. Policing Peterborough need to take action on this.”
10: “He has approached myself & my partner in Beales car park a few times, persistently asking for money to get a bed for the night.
“We made security aware in Beales after we observed him for few minutes… usually approaching lone females only ! Not a very pleasant experience at all for this poor young lady bless her.”
11: “I went the other week and there was two of them ( one being this man) approaching people for money, seemed to only go to cars with one person in it.
“I drove off as he approached me and rang McDonald’s to tell them what was happening. I thought it was just a one off obviously not.”
12: “He’s robbed my bike before; he’s scared of a lot of people. You just got to be louder then him then he gets scared.”
13: “Yep, came over to me when I was there a couple of weeks ago, I emptied a load of 2p and 1p’s into his hand and he was not happy, I told him to be happy he got anything and shut the window.”
14: “He was pestering motorists at the Eye roundabout at 5 30 one morning for change I stupidly gave him a quid before he got hit.
“Had I known he was a bully to this young woman, I would have been pissed off instead of pitying this idiot.”
