Man jailed for stripping stolen luxury cars for parts at Whittlesey ‘chop shop’

Officers arrested Andrius Samajauskas, 32, at a warehouse in King’s Dyke on 21 March last year after tracking the location of a stolen Audi Q5 to the property.

The car, which had been stolen from Pinner, Middlesex, was found inside the warehouse being dismantled with false number plates.

Officers also found a black Mercedes GLC which had been completely stripped with some parts packaged and ready to be sold as well as transmitter disruption equipment, which is used to block tracker signals.

Samajauskas, of Kensington Walk, Corby, was arrested when officers found him hiding behind the building. He was bailed to appear at Peterborough Crown Court on 23 August last year, but when he failed to attend a warrant for his arrest was issued.

On 25 July this year he was arrested in Great Yarmouth by Norfolk Police.

He appeared at Peterborough Crown Court on Wednesday (18 September) where he was jailed for 15 months after pleading guilty to two counts of handling stolen goods and breaching his bail conditions.

Samajauskas is the second man who was found at the chop shop to be jailed. In December Gediminas Babusis was locked up for two years for his role in the gang - which also saw high value Tesla cars targeted.

MORE: Quarter of a million pounds worth of cars chopped up

Today, DC Tom Adams said: “This was an organised operation involving Samajauskas targeting high-value vehicles and stripping them of valuable parts.

“It is believed one of the vehicles was stolen using keyless entry and I would urge owners of keyless vehicles to keep their key fobs in foil-lined pouches to stop the signal being interfered with.”

If you own a keyless entry car you can protect your vehicle from being stolen by considering these steps:

Place keys fobs in a metal container or foil-lined pouch to stop signal boosters from connecting with the keys and unlocking your vehicle

Contact your car dealer to discuss the digital features of your car as there may be software updates you can take advantage of

Check if your keyless entry fob can be turned off

Find more details on how you can keep your vehicle secure here: https://www.cambs.police.uk/A-Z/Vehicle-security.