Witness hails modest hero who tried to stop thief stealing woman’s car

One man in his 40s was dragged 25 feet along the ground when he tried to stop the car and confront the thief while another drove after him and tried to stop the stolen car.

An eye witness described the actions of the man who confronted the car thief as a ‘very brave’ act.

He said he was sitting outside the shop waiting for his wife and child when the incident occurred.

The witness said there were seven other cars in the car park at the time when he heard a woman shouting.

He saw a woman at the shop door waving her arms and shouting that her car had been stolen.

It later emerged the thief had threatened the woman with a syringe, claiming that it contained HIV.

The witness said it was terrifying.

“I got out of my car and ran towards the woman,” he said. “I turned round and saw a car reversing out of a parking space.

“The driver was very calm and looked like a normal customer. This led me to initially think, that this was not the stolen car, belonging to the women.”

The witness said that a man in his 40s who was carrying three shopping bags then ran towards the car and attempted to open the front passenger door.

When that didn’t work he then stood in front of the car.

“I was standing at the side of the car at the back left door and reached for the back door handle,” said the eye witness.

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“At this point the car driver had put the car into first gear and was spinning the wheels at full throttle. The man held onto the front right wing of the car and was either dragged, or ran with the car, approximately 25 feet, towards the car park exit.

“The driver accelerated when the man was standing in front of the car.”

The eye witness said that during the confusion another car was forced to brake to avoid crashing into the stolen car which was accelerating towards the exit.

The stolen car also narrowly missed another vehicle at the exit of the car park.

The man who attempted to stop the car thief fell to the ground and the car raced away from the car park at speed. He suffered minor cuts and scrapes.

“The man was extremely brave in trying to prevent the theft of the women’s car” said the eye witness. “He did not care for his own safety. He seemed to be in a lot of pain afterwards and could not walk over to the shop.”

Another driver who had left the shop attempted to pursue the stolen car, but was unable to keep up with it.

Police say the car was spotted by officers on the Hillsborough Road at about 3.00am on Friday and a a 38-year-old man was arrested.

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