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Watch customers fight off moped robber who burst into Crouch End bar

Moped robber bursts iinto Bar Esteban in Crouch End Archant

This is the moment a brazen moped thief armed with a hammer is chased away by customers in a Crouch End Tapas restaurant after a botched attempt to steal a laptop.

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The bar’s CCTV footage shows the attacker, who is wearing a helmet, burst into Bar Esteban, on Park Road, on Tuesday evening, and snatch the manager’s laptop from the counter.

But the laptop is secured to the bar with a cable and as the thief struggles to run off with it, manager Gessica Lastrucci grabs it back.

During the scuffle, the robber drops his hammer.

We then see him return seconds later looking around on the floor.

A customer then attacks the thief with a stool as he tries to leave the tapas restaurant Others among the 25 diners in the bar at the time are also seen brandishing chairs at the thief.

The footage shows one customer appear to hit him with a stool before chasing him out of the shop.

Speaking afterwards, Ms Lastrucci, 30, said: “It happened in seconds. I didn’t understand what was going on at first. When the robber came back in I thought he was going to hurt me.

“I’m so thankful to the customers. But we’re not heroes. We’ve never had trouble like that. I was in shock afterwards,” she added.

Just minutes earlier witnesses reported a moped thief also tried to smash his way into David Astburys estate agents, just down the road from Bar Esteban but failed as the door was locked.

Aaron Cox, from David Astburys, says his business was targeted on October 31 by thieves who he believes to be the same moped gang.

“They managed to smash their way into our place at around 1.30am and they stole computers. And then they tried to do it again on Tuesday.

“These attacks are horrible. We have only been here two weeks and for a business like ours where we do a lot in the community and we are self-funded, it really hurts us.”

Mr Cox says that eight estate agents have been targeted in the last two weeks in Crouch End and Finsbury Park.

Cassius and Coco gift shop, next door to Bar Esteban, was targeted, at around 5.30pm on October 30. Manager Ella Webb said that a scooter pulled up and a man wearing a helmet with a black visor got off and came into the shop.

“I think he had a hammer in his right hand. He said ‘don’t move at all’. And then he took my laptop and rummaged around and found my phone as well.

“Then he left and he and his friend drove off.”

As reported in the Ham&High, moped thieves have been running into cafes and bars across north London. Gail’s bakery in Highgate was targeted on Monday whilst a laptop was snatched from Rustique cafe in Tufnell Park.

A police spokesperson said of the incident at Bar Esteban: “Two suspects entered the premises in Park Road and grabbed a laptop from a table. The laptop was dropped at the scene, and the suspects made off on mopeds. A hammer was recovered at the location. No arrests have been made.”