Days after thieves broke in and stole quad bikes at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, police have managed to recover two of the vehicles. The quad bikes were found in a garage in Knowsley. In total, four ATVs were taken in the raid, despite them being secured.
While police have found two of the quads, the other two are still missing. The custom quad bikes that are still to be found are both red Yamaha Grizzly 350s with recognisable gold wheels. Both also have black boxes fitted to the rear.
The quad bikes were concealed out of sight in a storage shed, yet thieves got onto the property via the neighbouring building; they then smashed down the door. Lifeguards rely on the quad bikes for patrolling the beaches of Sefton. The supervisor of the RNLI, Pete Rooney, said that he could not comprehend why someone would target the service when it saved lives.
The equipment had been purchased with donations from the public and now the RNLI will have to rely once again on donations to not only replace the missing equipment, but also to fix and secure the site, taking extra measures to double up on security.
Quad bikes, and particularly the utility ATV, are prime targets for thieves. Police have advised owners to secure them on the property and keep them out of sight. Sadly, thefts still happen and in this case it puts the lives of innocent people at risk.