A father was horrified as armed motorcycle thugs smashed his car window and chased him down a busy street, demanding his £20,000 Rolex watch, all while his young son watched in terror. The shocking incident took place in broad daylight on Boldmere Road, Sutton Coldfield, as the 52-year-old victim was picking up his ten-year-old from tuition on Wednesday, June 26.
The father, who wishes to remain unnamed, was already on alert after noticing a suspicious woman loitering near his car, possibly acting as a lookout for the gang. Suddenly, masked robbers on motorbikes mounted the pavement and began smashing his car window with a hammer, forcing him to flee into the street. There, he was confronted by one thug wielding a ten-inch knife and another brandishing a metal club hammer, repeatedly shouting, “Give me the watch.”
The victim, trying to keep his distance from the weapons, attempted to negotiate with the assailants, claiming the watch was fake. However, his ordeal only ended when he reluctantly handed over the luxury timepiece, and the thugs sped off on their bikes. The entire incident was witnessed by his son through the tuition centre’s window.
Recalling the terrifying event, the father said, “It was a red-hot day, windows were open. I began feeling uncomfortable because I wondered: ‘Is she going to try to grab my phone?’ So I moved the stuff out the way. After about ten minutes, she went. At about 4.50pm, I saw three or four motorbikes with lads with balaclavas on mount the pavement, drive over by the side of my car.”
He continued, “I shut my windows, locked my door, shut the sunroof, and they shouted something at me. I looked in the mirror, they’d turned around at the back of my car, jumped off their bikes, ran up to the window of the car, and started hitting the car with a hammer. When I saw them coming, I kind of knew what was going on. I’d seen videos of it happening in London and areas on YouTube and Facebook, and I thought: ‘This can’t be happening to me.'”
Despite his efforts to secure the car, the hammer-wielding thug managed to break through after four strikes. “At this point, they started pushing the glass inwards, trying to get to me. I thought: ‘Right, it’s time to go here.'”
In his escape attempt, he clambered through the passenger side, cutting his leg and aggravating metal plates from recent surgery. Yet, the thugs chased him down the road, continuing their assault. “They’ve caught me, and I’ve looked around just before they could hit me with a hammer; one had a hammer, another was holding a ten-inch blade. The rest of them were on their bikes waiting. I tried talking to them, negotiating with them, but they just kept screaming ‘give me your watch, give me your watch’. I said: ‘Are you it’s a fake, why do you want a fake watch?’ It’s not a fake, but I was trying to say anything to put them off and delay it. I gave them the watch, then they jumped on the bikes and disappeared.”
As the police took his statement, the same gang allegedly committed another robbery nearby. The traumatic experience has left lasting effects on his son, who witnessed the entire ordeal. “My son was watching it from the window; he heard the bang and the shouting. He watched the bloke chase me down the road with a hammer. At night, it’s playing on his mind. He’s sleepwalking and shouting in the night ‘get off him, get off him,’ things like that. He’s sweating profusely. Every time I close my eyes when I go to sleep, I see the guy’s eyes looking at me through the window with the hammer.”
West Midlands Police are conducting a CCTV investigation to track down the assailants. A spokesperson stated, “We’re investigating after a man was robbed of his watch in Boldmere Road, Sutton Coldfield, at around 4.50pm on Wednesday, June 26. It’s understood a man in his 50s was parked in his car when up to three people on motorbikes approached him. One of them hit the windscreen with a hammer, and the man tried to run off. He was confronted again and forced to hand over his jewellery. The victim was unhurt, and the robbers made off.”
