Three men arrested over carjacking attempt after woman refused to give up keys
Three men have been arrested on suspicion of an attempted carjacking after a woman driver refused to hand over her keys and was pushed to the ground.
Two 30-year-old men from Wolverhampton and a 33-year-old man from Willenhall were arrested by officers from Staffordshire Police and West Midlands Police following the incident on Monday evening, which happened in Great Wyrley.
It saw three men approach a woman and demand the keys for her car, which she refused to give over and which saw her pushed to the ground and threatened before the men left the scene in a black Volkswagen Golf.
The men were tracked down to the Willenhall area and chased until the vehicle came to a stop, with some of the occupants attempting to run away, but subsequently caught, and all three men arrested on suspicion of attempted robbery.
All three men were taken into custody for questioning.
A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said: "We have arrested three suspected car thieves after an attempted carjacking in Great Wyrley.
"We got a call at about 9.30pm last night (5 February) when a woman was approached by a group of three men.
"They demanded the keys to her car but she refused to give them over. One of them pushed the victim to the ground and threatened her.
"They left the scene empty handed and got into a black Volkswagen Golf and drove away.
"We started work immediately to find them. We worked closely with our colleagues at West Midlands Police to track them in the Willenhall area.
"The suspect car tried to drive away but was followed until it came to a stop. Some of them inside tried to run away but were caught by officers.
"We arrested two 30-year-old men, from Wolverhampton, on suspicion of attempted robbery and a 33-year-old man, from Willenhall, on suspicion of attempted robbery.
"They are all being questioned about what happened in custody today (6 February)."
Staffordshire Police said the arrests were part of a vehicle theft initiative called Operation Bormus, which was targeting vehicle thefts and helping to decrease the number of thefts taking place.
A spokesman said: "We’re committed to making Staffordshire an increasingly hostile place for criminals to operate.
"We’ve been targeting vehicle thieves proactively, working with neighbouring forces and patrolling hotspot areas to stop those responsible.
"Since we launched our vehicle theft initiative, called Operation Bormus, we’ve arrested more than 120 suspects and charged more than 50 with offences.
"Through this work, we’ve seen a decrease in the number of vehicle thefts in 2023 when compared to the year before.
"In December (2023), we saw a 32 per cent reduction in the number of reports when compared to the year before.
"We know there’s more work to be done, but we’re keen to continue making progress and finding new ways of protecting our communities’ belongings from criminals."
