EXCLUSIVE: Violent ‘kidnapper’ on the loose: Three men bundle male driver into van then race the WRONG WAY down A12 while ramming police cars in pursuit – as two are arrested but third is still at large
- Man, 20, was stopped by kidnap gang who bundled him into the back of a van
- It sparked miles long police chase before they stopped and were pursued
- Eyewitness said officers had to taser two of the men, but one is still on the loose
- Incident is feared to be gang-related and not an attack carried out at random
A kidnapper is on the loose who bundled his victim from his own vehicle into a van before a dramatic police chase across London where a 999 car was rammed.
The extraordinary incident happened yesterday just before 11.44am in Newham in broad daylight in the midst of traffic.
At first motorists believed it had been a simple collision, with social media chatter speculating two cars have crashed.
But in fact a kidnap squad of two vehicles – including a blue Citreon Berlingo van – stopped their target in the road and the terrified victim, 20, was dragged out.
He was bundled into the back of the van, which then sped off with him trapped inside.
Stunned onlookers alerted police, who managed to locate the kidnap vehicle and started an urgent pursuit causing traffic chaos.
It smashed into a Met car during the attempted getaway, before starting up the A12 in London on the wrong side of the road.
The kidnappers’ car stopped and they fled, but while police arrested two men on suspicion of kidnap and traffic offences, the driver escaped.
Footage from TfL traffic cams should the congestion caused in the aftermath of the kidnap
An eyewitness told MailOnline: ‘The two men had to be tasered, it was very dramatic.
‘It caused absolute travel chaos, at first we all thought it was a crash.’
Their victim was found injured in the back of the van, but had not suffered life-threatening wounds.
Detective Sergeant David Doig of the Met’s North East Command said: ‘Due to the reckless and dangerous driving of the suspect vehicle, it was sheer luck that this fast time response did not result in injuries to members of the public or police officers.
The pursuit saw the kidnap van go the wrong way up the busy A12 dual carriageway (pictured)
‘The incident took place in the middle of the day and a number of motorists on the A12 stopped their vehicles when they were faced with the van driving on the wrong side of the carriageway. I am keen to hear from those motorists.
‘Please contact police if you saw any part of the kidnap in Forest Gate, the pursuit, or the vehicle when it came to a stop on the A12, particularly if you have dash-cam footage.
‘No matter how insignificant you think your information might be, if you witnessed any part of this sequence of events please don’t hesitate, make the call and share what you saw with us.’
Police say the the driver of the vehicle fled the scene on foot and enquiries continue to establish his identity and his whereabouts.
They are pouring over CCTV footage and want motorists with dashcam film to come forward if they can help
Anyone who has information or who witnessed this incident should call police on 101 or Tweet @MetCC quoting 3044/16DEC.
To remain 100% anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit Crimestoppers_uk.org.