Police arrested a car thief following a dramatic pursuit in Birmingham city centre – and had the driver locked up just two hours after he’d stolen the Porsche 911.
Staffordshire Police alerted us to a car key burglary at around 4.15 pm on 25 January this year in which a race-prepared Porsche 911 GTS was taken.
Road cameras had picked up the car heading south towards Birmingham and one of our traffic patrols later spotted it near Moor Street station in the city center.
The high-performance car sped away and shot through a red light.
But driver Lee Smythe would soon find out rear-wheel drive Porsches don’t handle too well on snowy, icy January roads!
He spans the car while speeding around a traffic island which allowed our patrols to box the 34-year-old in and taser him at the wheel as he tried ramming his way out.
Smythe, from Stratford Road in Birmingham, went on to admit aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, and firearms possession.
That’s because officers found him with a can of pepper spray which is classed as a firearm in UK law.
He appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on 25 February and was jailed for a total of 16 months. The judge also banned him from the roads for three years and eight months and he must pass an extended re-test to get his license back in the future.
PC Rich Storer from our traffic unit was involved in the arrest. He said: “Smythe lost control of the Porsche on the slippery surface and was fortunate not to collide with other road users.
“We knew we had to stop him quickly as he was an accident waiting to happen. We used some tactical contact to box him in and were able to swiftly get him in handcuffs.
“It was a good job – to have him locked up little more than two hours after the Porsche was reported stolen was a great effort.”