Dominigos Concalves will be sentenced next month.
A man who has been stealing money from Croydon Council parking meters has admitted to more than 20 thefts across the borough.
Dominigos Goncalves, of Elgin Road, pleaded guilty to four counts of theft and three counts of criminal damage at Croydon Magistrates’ Court earlier this month.
Police were called to Lebanon Road on June 8 by a member of the public, who stated they had seen him tampering with several parking pay and display roads, trying to get money out of the machines with a coat hanger.
Officers arrested Goncalves at the scene and Croydon CID took on the investigation, where they found many machines in the area had recently been damaged. They also carried out a search of his home and found cash which they believed to have been taken from parking machines.
At first Goncalves admitted to tampering with only one machine, but after further questioning from officers admitted to committing a series of offences, pointing out over 20 machines he had tampered with or stolen money from.
“This was an excellent investigation by my two officers, PC Bruce Weatherill and DC Michael Rack,” said Detective Sergeant Adrian Sutherland from Croydon CID.
“They gathered a large amount of evidence against Goncalves that showed he’d targeted a large number of parking machines, which left him little option than to admit to a whole series of offences.
“This costs the council money – not only through the money he has stolen, but also the cost of repairing the machine, not to mention the inconvenience of the public trying to get tickets.”
Goncalves is due to be sentenced on July 1.
Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Police, with thanks.
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