Taxi Driver Online

23 Feb 2008

Taxi driver gives chase as thief threatens him

A CHAMPAGNE thief threatened security guards and a taxi driver with a
syringe as she tried to make her getaway from a high street shop.


The 22-year-old woman tried to steal two bottles of Champagne from a
Marks & Spencer store in Portsmouth but she was spotted on CCTV.

She pulled out the syringe when two security guards confronted her in the
Commercial Road store before running off with the guards giving chase.

She jumped into a taxi and held the syringe to the terrified driver's throat
shouting at him to drive.

But driver John Bradford refused and chased her after she jumped out of
his eight-seater private hire vehicle.

The 40-year-old caught the shoplifter and restrained her until the police
arrived and arrested her at the northern end of Commercial Road at about
5.40pm on Thursday.

Mr Bradford, of Henderson Road, Eastney, said it was the most extreme
threat he has faced in 20 years of work.

He said: 'It was terrifying, one minute I was sitting there in traffic on the
way to a pick-up, the next she was screaming at me to drive.

'I knew something was up because of her manner, but I wouldn't have
been able to drive away anyway because we only take bookings.'

So instead Mr Bradford, who runs Premier Travel, locked the doors of his
Mercedes van and waited for the guard to arrive.

The woman then jumped up behind his seat and pressed something sharp
into his throat while shouting at him to drive

He said: 'Part of me was really angry, so I said I had a huge knife and
was going to get her.

'Of course I didn't, but it seemed to make her think and she let go.'

Mr Bradford unlocked the doors and the woman ran out with Mr Bradford
giving chase.

As the police arrived witnesses at the scene saw Mr Bradford restrain the
woman. 'I held her until the police took over and that's when I saw her
drop the syringe,' he said.

'It certainly shook me up, I have been working in Portsmouth for 10 years
and as a driver for 20 and I have never seen anyone do something like this.

'It has left me very angry and I'm just pleased the police were able to get
hold of her.'

The 22-year-old woman from Fratton was arrested for shoplifting, public
order offence, possession of an offensive weapon and for going equipped.

Last night she remained in police custody.

Source: Portsmouth News
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