A car key burglar who targeted two homes over two nights has been jailed thanks to officers’ swift actions.
Hamza Javed was arrested within hours of committing the second burglary by our fast responding officers.
He claimed he acted as a lookout while his two accomplices forced their way into a home on Potter Close, Erdington overnight on 18 August last year while the family, including their young children, slept upstairs.
They stole thousands of pounds worth of jewellery and other items from the house, before making off with a black VW Golf and a Mercedes, which was later tracked and found on College Road, Birmingham.
The following night, on 19 August, the trio targeted a home on Robin Hood Lane, Hall Green at just after 2am while the family slept upstairs. They took a purse and car keys from inside before stealing two Mercedes cars from the driveway.
Within minutes traffic officer PC Steven Franklin was on scene and recorded local CCTV footage onto his body cam of a black VW Golf, which the three men had pulled up to the house in.
On the same night, just an hour later at around 3am, PCs Richard Adams and Lewis Millington-Moss from our force traffic team spotted the VW Golf while out on patrol and a pursuit ensued after the Golf failed to stop.
The Golf was driven dangerously for several minutes, eventually colliding with another parked car and the three men, including Javed, fled from the vehicle. PC Millington-Moss was quick to react, jumping out of the police car and chasing Javed on foot while PC Adams looked for the other two suspects.
On hearing his colleague shout for help, PC Adams ran over to assist PC Millington-Moss, who had Javed on the floor. Javed was found in possession of a stolen Mercedes key and another stolen Mercedes key was found in the back of the Golf, which officers linked to the two burglaries.
The 20-year-old, of Guild Close, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and was jailed for five years and three months at Birmingham Crown Court on 16 February.
Detective Constable Karen Kirman, from Force CID, said: “It’s thanks to the quick response of our officers, who remained alert and vigilant in the early hours, that a swift arrest was made and a dangerously driven car was stopped before anyone could get hurt. This was down to good communication between our constables, including noting the car used at the crime scene and our patrol car picking it up.
“We arrested another man in relation to the burglaries, he has been released pending investigation and our enquiries into the third male continue.”