Police target carjack gangs after attacks Warning after two weeks of terror for drivers at hands of violent crooks
ATEAM of police officers has been tasked with smashing carjacking gangs after a twoweek crimewave.
West Midlands Police has urged motorists to act as their “eyes and ears” in the fight against violent crooks after attacks across Birmingham and Solihull.
Police are hunting thugs who have escaped with five Audi, Mercedes and Volkswagen cars in the past fortnight.
A senior detective said she would not rule out links between the attacks, although descriptions of offenders, locations and the tactics used have been very different.
Detective Chief Inspector Anastasia Miller, based at Force CID, said: “The level of violence used in these latest offences is a concern and we have a specialist team of officers who are absolutely determined to track down those responsible and to bring them to justice.”
Victims have been threatened with weapons, violently dragged from cars and in one case a woman who was eight months’ pregnant was sprayed with a “noxious substance”.
DCI Miller added: “We can see the impact this has had on the victims, on their families and on the wider community. We are determined to find out who is responsible so they can be brought to justice.
“We are putting out CCTV when we have it, but we are also asking for the public to act as our eyes and ears. We need them to look out for suspicious activity, to try and park in well lit areas, to plan for journeys, lock doors and use the vehicle’s security systems when they are waiting in traffic.”
Jordan Doherty, 22, revealed how he was attacked as he returned from Merry Hill shopping centre.
He had stopped his Ford Fiesta to adjust music leads and seconds later a car carrying two men screeched to a halt alongside them in Moat Drive, Halesowen.
One man jumped out and attacked his vehicle with the axe, hitting the driver window before smashing the rear passenger window. But Jordan, from Oldbury, was able to drive away after the 4pm attack on Monday, December 12.
Last week two men targeted Adam Elwell’s wife Casey as she sat in their Audi A3 charging her phone in Mayswood Road, Solihull.
Mr Elwell raced out and confronted the pair after Mrs Elwell ran in screaming. The men had threatened her, dragged her from the car by her hair, leaving her with injuries to her lip and face.
The robbers were thwarted by the electronic parking brake.
The same weekend a pregnant woman was pinned to the ground by carjackers who sprayed her in the face with the “noxious substance”.
Two men made off in her VW Golf after attacking her in the Yew Tree car park, opposite Frogmoor House, Hob Moor Road, Yardley.
The victim was rushed to hospital
We can see the impact this has had on the victims, on their families and on the wider community
and treated for minor injuries and police said both she and her unborn child were doing well.
A 25-year-old driver was dragged from his VW Golf in the car park of the Fitness First gym in Pershore Road, Stirchley, at 6.40pm on December 6.
On the same night, a gang punched a 24-year-old woman in the face in Pailton Road, Shirley, as they made off with her red Mercedes A Class.
A grandad was attacked the day before, on December 5, by four men who took his Mercedes A Class in Trittiford Road, Billesley.
And a 45-year-old mum was also targeted by three men who threatened to stab her in School Road, Moseley, on November 29. They made off with her Audi A3 worth £23,000.
DCI Miller urged people to call 999 in an emergency or provide any information to police on 101.
Detective Chief Inspector Anastasia Miller