Shocking footage shows thugs drive at woman trying to stop theft from firm

Three people in a Vauxhall pulled into AED Rollers, on Moor Street, Brierley Hill, at around 12.30pm on Tuesday and loaded the car with a steel bar worth around £400.

Chloe Fowler, who works as a manager at the firm, spotted the incident taking place on the office CCTV and rushed out to stop them.

She stood in front of the car, hoping the driver would stop. But instead, he continued until the 28-year-old was forced to get out of the way.

Chloe said: "We were all in the office, and we have CCTV up on a screen.

"We saw someone pull up and wondered ‘why does he have shorts on’, we thought it was a visitor at first.

"He was milling around some stock which we had brought in around an hour earlier.

"Then he started dragging the steel and I thought, 'oh my god, he is robbing us'.

"I thought I would just run outside and see if he will stop.

"But by this time he got the bar into the back of the car, but his boot was still open.

Chloe was shocked at the extent to which the driver was willing to go to escape, admitting she thought he would stop.

She added: "I didn’t think he would do what he did, I thought he would hold his hands up.

"I was shocked how far I had gone back when I saw the footage.

"I shut the shutters and let the neighbours know, then it hit me and I started feeling a bit shaky, I couldn’t watch the footage back for ages after.

"But I would rather he run me over than drive like an idiot than go and hit a child or someone completely innocent and not involved.

"I have been lucky and I am trying to see the positives.

"The first day and night it hit me how bad it was, it does change how you think and feel."

Chloe's father, and managing director at the company, Phil Bevan, believes those responsible had a total disregard for life.

Phil said: "By the time we saw it on the cameras it had already happened and gone.

"They had a total disregard for life, Chloe didn’t think about what she did, she just acted on instinct.

"If she would have tripped up or stumbled, they would not have stopped.

"It could have been anything, could have been a broken bone or even fatal."

"I was astounded and extremely proud of other work colleagues who reacted when seeing the events unfold, running out to assist – namely our Engineering Manager Neil Gennard, who opened the car door to try a stop the theft."

The firm, which manufacturers conveyor rollers and gravity conveyors, and has been in business since 1996, has been forced to make changes to the way it operates following the incident.

Phil said: "We have been in the habit of leaving raw material out there and packing it up later in the day.

"But now, when we have a delivery, we have to pack it straight away because of the incident."

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: "We've received a report of steel bars being stolen from Moor Street, Brierley Hill, at around 12.30pm on Tuesday, May 10.

"Anyone with information can contact us via Live Chat on our website west-midlands.police.uk and quote 20/450499/22."