A Dundee driver has told how he had to “run for his life” when thieves stole his van and threatened to stab him.
David Squire is shaken but unhurt after the ordeal, when a gang erected a roadblock to steal his vehicle and threatened him with a broken bottle early on Monday morning.
The HGV driver says he is still in disbelief after he encountered the group, lying in wait behind bins on Blackness Road.
The 54-year-old was driving his white Volkswagen van shortly after 1am when he encountered a barricade of bread baskets and a rabbit hutch.
When he got out of his van to move them, he was accosted by the gang.
Van stolen after roadblock attack
He said: “I removed three bread crates and turned around and saw this guy with a bottle in his hand.
“He was bouncing around. The headlights were on but I could see he had something else in his other hand.
“I couldn’t get a good look at him though.
“All I heard the boy saying was ‘don’t move or I’ll f*****g stab you’.
“The van was revving at this point and I thought I was going to get ran over so I ran for my f*****g life.
“He threw the bottle at me and I heard it smash.”
David then fled down Blackness Street before encountering a taxi driver who took him to the police station on Bell Street.
The van was later found abandoned but the thieves have not been caught.
‘My instincts were to get out of there’
He said: “The cab driver was on a break.
“He was going to take me to find the van initially but he took me to the police station.
“It was frightening what happened.
“My instincts were to get out of there.
“Imagine if that had been an elderly person or a pregnant woman driving?
“The van has been recovered now by police but there is some damage to it.”
‘Bread baskets and rabbit hutch on road’
Another driver, Anthony Duff, witnessed the theft as he encountered the barricade on the road just before David was targeted.
He immediately called the police.
Anthony said: “I was just driving down from Balgay Park when I saw the bread baskets and the rabbit hutch on Blackness Road.
“There was definitely something dodgy happening as this stuff had been placed as a roadblock.
“I reversed back down Rosefield Street and saw there were four or five folk hiding behind bins.
“The next vehicle came down, which was the van. I saw the guy jump out to remove the stuff.
“In a matter of seconds, he went round the front of the van and the group sprinted towards it and got in.”
He said: “I don’t think these thieves were deliberately targeting this driver – they were just waiting for the first person to get out.
“I dialled 999 straightaway.
“All of those involved couldn’t get in the van and one ran off on foot towards the fire station, the same direction the van went.
“I drove towards where they went to see if I could see the victim but I couldn’t.
‘Like something out of a video game or film’
“It was so surreal seeing what happened, it was like something out of a video game or a film.
“This was an organised plan and it all happened so quickly.
“It was fairly brazen to try to pull this off as there are surely businesses with CCTV there and it’s fairly close to the police station.
“Police told me they were going to be reviewing CCTV.”
Stolen van found abandoned
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “At around 1.20am on Monday, police were called to a report of a stolen van on Blackness Road in Dundee.
“Officers carried out inquiries and the vehicle was later found abandoned on Kingsway in Dundee.
“Inquiries into the incident are ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact 101 quoting incident number 0188 of Monday August 8.”
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