Moment brazen knife-wielding thief grabs woman’s £5,000 bike from London coffee shop before police show up – but only to buy a round of drinks

A coffee shop owner said he felt ‘wronged’ after a customer’s bike was stolen at knifepoint in broad daylight and police arrived just to order a coffee.

Steve Bassi, 71, said the theft was ‘unusual’ and claimed it took the Met Police more than an hour to arrive after the incident, but in the meantime other uniformed officers had arrived to order drinks.

Onar Cranny, 26, was drinking coffee outside Bartons coffee shop in Bermondsey on Friday, February 21, when two men dressed in black boarded a motorbike and snatched his bike.

When his friend Patrick Archer moved to stop them stealing the bike, they pulled out a knife and he retreated, holding his hands in the air.

One of the men then gently slung the bike over his shoulder before the pair walked away.

Miss Cranny, originally from Delaware, USA, has only had her £5,000 Trek Madone bike for about a week.

It was her second ride and she cycled 25km with Canadian Mr Archer before grabbing coffee and pastries from Bartons.

The couple had just finished their drinks and were getting ready to leave the store.

Officers arrived at the cafe a short time later, but only for lunch, not to investigate the crime.

The men were filmed earlier that day by a neighbor who thought they looked suspicious.

He told the Daily Mail: ‘This is absolutely appalling.

‘I’m just shocked. Frankly, I know people will steal bikes when they’re locked out or someone isn’t with the bike, but to get ready to go back and have someone come, it’s just like, wait, what?

‘I was literally about to get on the bike. “It all happened so fast.”

After the thieves pointed the knife at Patrick, Miss Cranny said: ‘We’re not going to argue with that.’

“You are in complete shock,” he added.

‘It was about 11 o’clock on a Saturday morning, so brazen.’

Miss Cranny said she bought the bike with money she inherited from her grandfather and started training for a half Ironman with her partner in October.

Mr Bassi, originally from Forest Hill, said ‘this shouldn’t be happening’ in London and was disappointed it took so long for police officers to arrive.

Steve Bassi, owner of Bartons coffee shop, said he and his staff felt ‘violated’ by the theft

Fix Cranny had his Trek Madone bike similar to the one pictured stolen in Bermondsey

It took police more than an hour to reach the store after the theft at 10.55am.

About 35 minutes after the bike was stolen, four uniformed police entered Bartons but only to order coffee, not to investigate the crime.

Mr Bassi said: ‘A police van arrived with a few police officers and we thought they had come to deal with this crime but they had just come for coffee and said, ‘Oh, I’m sure someone will come soon.’

‘We all feel violated and are really angry.’

After the theft, Mr. Bassi fundraiser GoFundMe for Miss Cranny.

‘I felt really guilty,’ he said.

‘They are visitors to my country even though they have been here for a few years and were robbed at knifepoint in broad daylight.

‘I feel so bad about this and I had to do something, this wasn’t something I could let go.’

‘It’s nice to know there are still good people in the world,’ said Miss Cranny.

Mr Bassi also spoke out against crime in the capital and London mayor Sadiq Khan.

‘We have a mayor who doesn’t fund proper policing and the Prime Minister does nothing,’ he said.

‘Crime is crazy in London.’

Mr Bassi added that a nearby shop ‘was robbed at gunpoint late last year and we never saw any police unless they came for coffee’.

A spokesman for the Mayor of London said Sir Sadiq was ‘committed to preventing all thefts and robberies and ensuring all Londoners are safe at all times’.

They added that neighborhood crime, including personal robbery, burglary and violent crime, was down, but the mayor was “committed to building on the progress that has been made.”

The spokesman said Sir Sadiq had set out plans to invest £1.26bn in policing to help ‘further reduce this crime through more visible policing in hotspot areas, more funding for specialist proactive policing teams and an enhanced partnership-led approach to deliver a safer London for everyone’.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: ‘We recognize the distressing impact of this type of crime on victims, the community and business owners.

‘All reports are taken seriously and whilst we understand the frustration with the response time, in this incident no one was injured, the stolen property was not immediately traced and the suspects fled the scene.’

They added that a detective took a formal statement from the victim and outlined the investigation process.

Officers also spoke to cafe owners to collect CCTV evidence and ‘reassure’ them.

The spokesman said that police investigations are continuing.

CCTV recorded the theft and a neighbor, suspicious due to the thieves’ actions, filmed the couple on a motorbike beforehand.