This is the moment a man smashed his way into the Lidl store in Kingswood and jogged away with a trolley full of expensive alcohol - before evading a massive police search that involved the force helicopter and police dogs.
The raid happened at around 12.35am in the early hours of yesterday - and most of the scene was captured on phone camera by two young men who happened to be sitting in a car opposite the car park.
They called police and filmed what happened, after hearing a man pull up the shutters of the store and smash a huge hole in a reinforced plate glass window, before disappearing inside.
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The man, who was wearing a baseball cap and dark clothing, emerged from the back of the store with a trolley, jogged round to the front and went back inside again before loading up the trolley with stolen booze, and walked away.
The incredulous witnesses, who have declined to be named, told Bristol Live they waited for police to arrive 10 minutes later, and showed them the footage of what happened.
“The thing is, the guy wasn’t even wearing a mask or anything, and there’ll be CCTV in the store that will show it much better than we managed from across the road,” one witness said. “He took off across the car park and down the alley.”
The police mounted a major operation in the early hours of Wednesday morning to try to catch the culprit, but have so far failed to do so. The helicopter circled Kingswood for some time around 1am, but the man had escaped with his booze.
A police spokesperson launched an appeal for more witnesses, and for people living in the area to check doorbell cameras and other CCTV.
“Police attended after calls reporting a burglary at Lidl in Halls Road, Kingswood,” she said. “Witnesses reported seeing someone smashing the front window of the store just after 12.35am and making off with alcohol.
“Officers arrived within 10 minutes and carried out initial enquiries and a search of the area, supported by a dog handler and the National Police Air Service helicopter. The suspect was not located and enquiries continue.
“Witnesses have described the individual as a white man wearing a baseball cap and dark clothing. If you have CCTV, doorbell or dashcam footage or any information which could help the investigation please call 101 and give the reference 5223054916. “Alternatively contact the independent charity Crimestoppers 100 per cent anonymously by calling 0800 555 111, or online at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information .”
A spokesperson for Lidl confirmed that police were called to ‘an incident’ at the store in Kingswood. She said they were unable to comment as the matter was now in the hands of the police, but confirmed the store opened as normal on Wednesday morning.
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