Movie-style car chase halts thief - Exclusive (From Stroud News and Journal)

Movie-style car chase halts thief - Exclusive

HAVE-A-GO hero, Ken Yateman chased a thief across Gloucestershire in a scene which could have come straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster movie.

The Brimscombe businessman told the SNJ how he saw one of his tipper trucks shoot past him when he knew it should have been locked in the depot.

"I was just going out for the evening on Tuesday and was coming down Hyde Hill when I saw one of my lorries flying past in the opposite direction," said Mr Yateman who owns Groundworks.

Mr Yateman told him and promptly turned and gave chase.

"I kept well back on the road, so the driver wouldn't think he was being followed," said Mr Yateman, "but when we got on to the straight on the top of the hill I tried to overtake him so I could block the road," he said.

But the lorry driver obviously recognised him and swerved across the road, sideswiping Mr Yateman's Vauxhall Vectra. "He just came across the road sideways, smashing into my car," said Mr Yateman. "We crunched together for 20-odd yards.

"I put my foot down and thought 'if I don't get past him he's just going to plough me into the wall and that'll be it'.

"I got past him and whacked on the handbrake, blocking the road but he just kept coming and bulldozed me straight out of the way again."

The stolen lorry turned right at the Ragged Cot pub and sped off towards Avening. "He was doing 70 or 80mph in my truck," said Mr Yateman.

"When we got down into Avening he didn't bother stopping at the junction and shot off up the hill towards Tetbury. "He was driving like an absolute lunatic, a definite suicide jockey."

The lorry driver kept swerving across the road to block his pursuer as the two hared towards Tetbury.

"I was on the phone to the police all the time and was hoping they'd be able to block the road but they didn't have any cars in the right place," said Mr Yateman.

Mr Yateman claims the truck drove into Tetbury town centre at about 75 mph.

But luckily an articulated lorry in the town's narrow high street slowed it down and the thief ditched it outside a chip shop just yards from the town's picturesque market house. "He left it in the middle of the road and just ran away," said Mr Yateman.

"I followed him with a couple of chaps but it was total darkness and he disappeared down an alley."

Throughout the chase Mr Yateman said he felt no fear for his own safety as adrenaline and determination to keep his truck took over.

"I just wanted to stop him," he said. "I didn't want him to get away with my truck."

During the hair-raising half-hour chase he did not get a good look at the thief. "It was dark, the window in the truck was dirty and I could only see the back of his head," he said.

"All I could say is that he was a short chap, probably about 5ft 6ins or so, and had short hair."

Police are following up leads but there was no sign of a forced entry at the yard where the truck had been kept and the combination lock had been undone by someone who either knew the code or had a lot of time on their hands.

The recovered tipper truck has been taken for forensic examination. Sgt Bill Stack of Stroud police urged caution before trying to tackle crooks. "We like people to inform us when crimes are happening," he said.

"But there is a worry about them getting too involved and we certainly wouldn't recommend that people put themselves in danger.

"It's a miracle nobody was hurt in this incident." Anyone with information on the lorry theft should call Stroud police on 0845 0901234.

For more Stroud-based stories, see this week's SNJ.