Hero Steve foils thieves in daylight bag-snatch

Aug 13 2007 by Gavin O'Connor, South Wales Echo

A DISABLED man leapt on the bonnet of a thief’s car after a woman’s handbag was snatched outside a pub.

Steve West was sitting in the beer garden of private members’ club the Llandaff Institute in High Street, Llandaff, Cardiff, when he saw a suspicious-looking woman and young man approach.

One seemed to be acting as lookout while the other followed behind.

Steve 43, who lives near the club in Cardiff Road, was enjoying a pint when he was stirred into action.

He said: “I didn’t recognise them as they went into the club. Then I noticed the woman come out and she seemed to be making sure the coast was clear before the guy snatched a woman’s handbag from a table – they both legged it to the silver Vauxhall Cavalier.”

Without thinking, Steve, who takes dozens of tablets daily to cope with health problems linked to diabetes, jumped on the bonnet near the side of the road.

“I just banged the windscreen as hard as I could and held on with my other hand,” he said. “My leg was nearly crushed against a yellow car as they drove off.

“But they must have got frightened and threw the handbag out of the sunroof.”

Steve was left on the floor as the car drove away but he dusted himself off and phoned police who arrived five minutes after the incident last Sunday evening. “People were coming up to me to say well done and the woman’s daughter, whose handbag was taken, gave me a kiss on the cheek. They were ecstatic.”

A spokeswoman for South Wales Police said there had not been any arrests and they were still looking for two people in relation to the incident. If you have any information, contact Cardiff Central Police Station on 029 2022 2111 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Were you the woman involved, or do you know who she was? Call us on 029 2058 3622.

gavin.o’connor@wme.co.uk