Wild West Britain: Terrified woman sends five-word WhatsApp plea for help after she’s locked in her bedroom by masked gang during frightening home invasion
Published: 13:42, 3 December 2023 | Updated: 13:42, 3 December 2023
A terrified woman sent a five-word WhatsApp plea for help after a masked gang broke into her family home, locked her inside her bedroom and took off with a stolen Audi.
Offenders struck the family, who had been in all day, within an hour of them leaving their home in Lozells, Birmingham[2], on Wednesday night (November 22). They made off with an Audi A8 – plus the car owner’s trainers, watches and cash – at around 9.25pm.
Despite the brazen burglars thinking the house was empty, the youngest family member, a 22-year-old girl, had been asleep upstairs.
As the burglars raided the home, she awoke to them entering her bedroom. Panicking, the gang quickly closed the door and locked her inside.
The girl, who is now ‘too scared’ to be left home alone, then sent a message to the family WhatsApp group, warning: ‘There’s burglars in the house’.
A terrified woman sent a five-word WhatsApp plea for help after a masked gang broke into her family home, locked her inside her bedroom and took off with a stolen Audi
Offenders struck the family, who had been in all day, within an hour of them leaving their home in Lozells, Birmingham on November 22
Her family rushed straight back home to try to thwart the burglary – but they were ‘five seconds too late’ and arrived to see the car being driven away.
Chilling CCTV footage shared by BirminghamLive [3]shows the disguised men running from a grey BMW parked opposite the street.
They then rush in, breaking through the front door with ‘a tool’ before searching the house.
Three minutes later, they run out – one darting into the stolen Audi and another fleeing in the original BMW.
The family are then seen arriving home just as the offender pulls off.
The woman’s 29-year-old brother, who owned the car, and had trainers and cash stolen, spoke to BirminghamLive about the ordeal.
‘My sister was sleeping upstairs and she thought it was me coming home, however, when they went into her room, and realised there’s somebody here, they closed the door and locked her in because her key was on the outside.
‘Straight away we came[home], we probably missed them by five seconds, but there was contact, when my uncle and cousins pulled up into the drive, the guy was reversing so it was just a matter of seconds.
‘Now, my mum and my sister feel very scared, they don’t want to stay home alone, which you can understand. My sister doesn’t want to go to work, she’s taken days off.’
A hooded burglar can be seen sprinting towards the home after getting out of a BMW
Chilling CCTV footage shows the disguised men running from a BMW parked across the street
The offenders rushed into the home, breaking through the front door with ‘a tool’
He thinks the same BMW X4 has been used to do multiple burglaries in the area.
‘It’s just surprising that these criminals haven’t been caught – especially when they’re coming through the front door. I think three to five burglaries have occurred,’ he said.
West Midlands Police said they have found the Audi and are conducting a forensic examination on it.
‘It appears the burglar was working alongside an accomplice in a grey BMW which we’ve been able to establish was on false plates.
‘We’re continuing our enquiries to trace the real identity of this car and who the driver was.
‘This would have been extremely frightening for the person who was in the address at the time and we are determined to identify those involved.
‘We’re investigating whether this is linked to four other recent car key burglaries in the city.
Vehicle crime is a top priority for the force and we remain committed to tackling this crime,’ a spokesperson said.
References
- ^ Summer Goodkind (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Birmingham (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ BirminghamLive (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Birmingham (www.dailymail.co.uk)