Thief drove into owner after snatching BMW keys

Tony Randall, 51, of Woburn Road, Pleasley, had advertised his 2003 BMW M3 on the online classified site, Gumtree, for £9,000 and had been contacted by a man claiming he was interested in buying and arranged to come up from London to visit his house.

But after quickly viewing the car, which was parked on the driveway, the thief ripped the keys from Mr Randall’s hand and tried to make a quick getaway.

Mr Randall said: “He jumped in and when he put the central locking on I knew that he was trying to steal it, so I tried to close the gates on the driveway.

“He then backed the car into me as I was trying to close them.

“He just kept going backwards and forwards to get out and I thought he couldn’t go anywhere because the traffic was backed up on the road.

“Once he got out he then just rammed into a waiting car again and again.”

The thief eventually wriggled free in the car, but not before tearing the bumper off and running a red light onto Chesterfield Road North and escaping.

“I was in total shock,” added Mr Randall.

“I was surprised he got out, but he left a trail of destruction, and that he got that far.

“I rang the police within two minutes and they put it as a priority but it wasn’t picked up on any ANPR camera.

“There was only about a third of a tank of petrol in it so he must have had to stop for petrol as well.”

The BMW has since been located in Romford, Essex, although the thief is yet to be traced.

Mr Randall says he is still waiting to find out if the car will be returned to him, or if it is written off.