A high tech thief has been caught on camera targeting three smart cars belonging to guests at the Edinburgh Sheraton hotel at Festival Square.
The incident took place in the early hours of September 22 in the underground carpark when the man wearing white shorts and t-shirt and using a wireless car unlocking device tried to get into a Tesla, white BMW and an SUV.
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The thief targeted the luxury vehicles worth tens of thousands of pounds at around 5am and was caught on the Tesla's security camera. The nifty bit of tech automatically starts to record when the car is parked and it senses movement.
Owners of the vehicle were on holiday in the capital but forced to leave the luxury stay two days early after being spooked by the crime taking place on site - losing out on hundreds of pounds in the process.
Marriott International, which runs the hotel, has since said they were 'concerned' regarding the incident and now have extra security staff on patrol to reassure guests.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live, the guest who would like to stay anonymous for safety reasons, said: "It was captured by our Tesla sentry. The guy tried to get into three cars, he’s seen using a radio frequency brute force attempt for keyless car entry.
"My partner no longer felt safe to stay after that. We checked out early and we were still charged the full rate, even though we were checking out by 1pm - it was £450 pound, as we had bought the fancy package.
"The trainee member of staff was very kind and wanted to do something about it but the manager was pretty rude as described in my trip advisor review.
"I reported it 1.5 days after the event. It’s surprising security wasn’t aware. The hotel has assured me it was raised with police but I don’t have a crime number."
They explained that the thief had a high tech device and said: "The guy looks a bit out of it at the end . Watch for his hand down his shirt He has a wireless car unlocking device, then he disappears off frame. I’m not sure if he was successful.
"What’s interesting is the methodology is very sophisticated but the person doing it doesn’t appear to be.
"The hotel told us, 'although we cannot take responsibility for any damage, accident or loss of course we were very happy to support you during the process and I can confirm that the information you provided was indeed shared with the police.'"
They continued: "The hotel were quite 'forthcoming' in offering to contact the police. I offered to contact the police but they offered to do it for me.
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Hotel bosses confirmed they had begun discussions with the customer over compensation after being contacted by Edinburgh Live.
A spokesperson for Sheraton Grand Hotel said: “We were very concerned to hear about this from our guest, and contacted the police on their behalf to share their footage and the carpark CCTV.
"Our security team regularly patrols the car park day and night to provide extra reassurance. This is the first report we have had of this nature for several years, but we are sorry that these guests felt unable to continue with their stay.
"We remain in contact with them to resolve.”
Police Scotland has been contacted for comment.
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