A STUNNED businessman watched in disbelief as a brazen thief sped off in his top-of-the-range Mercedes following a test drive.
Clive Davison had accompanied the man on the test drive after he showed an interest in buying his powerful Mercedes Benz CL 55 AMG. The thief arrived to view the car in a brand new BMW coupé.
But when the pair returned to Mr Davison's house in Moo
rgate, Rotherham, and he got out to open the garage door, the conman floored the accelerator and sped off down the drive.
Today the 50-year-old company director told The Star: "I was just left stood there thinking, 'Did that really happen?'
"He got out of the car with me at first, but then when I went to open the door he jumped back in and shot off. He must have been doing 50mph before he even reached the end of the street."
A police chase on the road and using the force helicopter ensued, but had to be aborted before officers could catch the thief.
Mr Davison has now put up a £2,000 reward for information which leads to the return of his car, which was not insured for theft because it had been in his garage for the past 12 months.
The Merc was worth £100,000 when new but now, at five years old, was on the market for £20,000.
Mr Davison said: "He told me the BMW was his wife's and he really wanted a Mercedes. But checks with the police later found the BMW had also been stolen in Wakefield on September 3.
"He was really interested in finding out if it was faster than a Mitsubishi Evolution - the cars police use in high speed chases. That makes me think he's stolen it because he wants to use it in a serious crime somewhere."
The Mercedes has a top speed of 150mph.
Mr Davison is also furious that a tracking device on the car will not be activated by the company that runs it because he has not paid the membership - even though he didn't even realise the car had been fitted with the gadget in the first place.
Police are investigating the incident at around 8.30pm on September 12.
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FeaturesMore Rotherham newsMore Doncaster newsMore Barnsley newsCheck out the very latest on South Yorkshire's roads - including live traffic cameras on Sheffield's commuter routes - with our Traffic sectionLatest sport.The full article contains 436 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
