A woman has described her disbelief after recovering her stolen mobile phone, along with four others, buried under a tree in a south London park. Agiimaa Oyungerel, 35, was outside Surrey Quays station on Saturday when a thief on a bicycle snatched the device from her hands.
Using Google's Find My Device service, Ms Oyungerel tracked the phone to Pepys Park in Lewisham. After digging through dirt and leaves, she discovered her phone and four other handsets, all iPhones except hers. The discovery comes amid reports of criminals hiding stolen phones in parks across the capital, including the Phoenix Garden and areas of the West End, to avoid detection.
Ms Oyungerel, a journalist and content creator visiting London from Mongolia, said she attempted to chase the offender but was unable to keep up. Staff at a nearby pawnbroker informed her that another person had been robbed in the same manner moments earlier. She later collected the phones and handed them to police, expressing concern that the thief remained at large.
The incident highlights a growing trend of phone theft in London. Metropolitan Police data released in August showed 116,000 phones were stolen in the capital in 2024, with Westminster recording the highest number of thefts at 34,039. Despite the high volume of incidents, only 169 suspects were charged last year.
