Sledgehammer man tasered after dramatic Black Country police chase
A suspected car thief threatened police officers with a sledgehammer before being tasered and arrested.
The man was arrested after a dramatic police chase through Dudley which saw two police vehicles rammed.
The incident began when police were called to Autumn Drive in Lower Gornal at around 10.30am to reports of a man breaking into cars.
Officers started chasing the man who was driving a van, believed to have been stolen, which then rammed a police car and drove off.
Officers were still searching for the van when a stolen BMW rammed another police car.
A man then got out of the BMW on Langstone Road, near Russell's Hall Primary School, and approached police officers with a sledgehammer before he was tasered and arrested.
The 43-year-old man was detained on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle and remains in police custody.
Police were unable to confirm whether the arrested man is believed to be the same man who was driving the van.
One police officer suffered minor injuries in the incident.
Residents in the area reported seeing a police helicopter circling above after the incident as officers searched for the car thief.
A West Midlands Police spokesperson said: "Anyone with information can contact us via live chat at west-midlands.police.uk between 8am and midnight, call 101 anytime or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Quoting log number 766 of July 8."
A spokesperson for West Midlands Ambulance Service confirmed that no paramedics attended the scene.
