Moment chef grapples with thief who armed himself with burger flipper after being caught stealing from the till

Fiona Simpson3 February 2017
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

This is the bizarre moment a chef fought off a brazen thief who armed himself with a burger flipper after being caught with his fingers in the till.

Toby Aldenhoven, 44, tackled the intruder in a bid to protect his family-run Bloomsbury restaurant from losing the day's takings.

Mr Aldenhoven spotted an intruder rifling through the cash register at Clive’s Midtown Diner after he shut up shop on January 20.

CCTV footage showed the thief casually wander into the American-style restaurant, owned by Mr Aldenhoven's 70-year-old father Clive.

The crook unlocked the till with one hand and helped himself to cash.

The man was caught walking into the restaurant and lifting cash from the till

After spotting the thief on CCTV, the head chef rushed upstairs from his office to confront the man.

Video from the restaurant’s security camera showed him leap on the man's back in a bid to recover £180 worth of takings.

The pair could be seen grappling as Mr Aldenhoven hooks onto the man’s back in a bid to restrain him.

He told the Standard: “It’s my money, my family’s money and I wanted to protect that.

“It’s out of character for me but I descended on him. I pinned him down with my arms and then my legs as I tried to dial 999.”

He fended him off with a chair 'like a lion tamer'

Mr Aldenhoven described the terrifying moment his anger turned to fear as the man raided his kitchen.

He said: “He reached into his pocket and said, ‘I don’t want to have to do use this, don’t make me hurt you’.

“Then he broke free from my grip and ran into the kitchen. That was the moment I thought, ‘my knives are in there, they’re sharp enough to shave with’. That was scary.”

However, the thief returned brandishing a burger flipper and Mr Aldenhoven, from Shoreditch, was forced to fight him off with a chair.

“I was like a lion tamer, keeping him at arm’s length. I don’t know what came over me. I was so angry,” he added.

The dramatic scene took a bizarre turn when the alleged thief fled into Museum Street and his victim gave chase.

The pair could be seen wrestling in the road as stunned bystanders looked on.

Toby and Jacqui Aldenhoven with their four-year-old daughter Chloe

Before the chase ended in the pair crashed into a parked moped and continued to battle in the road.

A Tuk-Tuk driver then attempted to intervene before police arrived.

Mr Aldenhoven said: “I descended on him again, he wasn’t getting away.

“I slammed him into the building opposite. People were begging us to stop, they just thought we knew each other and were fighting but I saw saying, ‘he’s robbed me’.”

The chef, who has worked in the capital for 10 years, spoke of the rise in crime across London and said he felt “under attack” as soon as he realised the door had not been locked on the night of the incident.

He added: “The last member of staff had left 10 minutes earlier and I suddenly remembered I’d not locked the door when I glanced at the CCTV and saw him.

“The first time you forget to lock up and this happens, we are constantly under attack.”

Atiq Maclaian, 46 of no fixed abode, was charged with burglary on 21 January.

He was also charged with theft in relation to a separate incident, in October 2016.

He appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates' on Saturday, 21 January where he pleaded guilty.

He will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, 17 February.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in