Woman pushed out of car and dragged along road after man creeps up behind her
Angela Johnson, 54, from Newport, was working the weekend delivery job she has had for 18 years when a man stole her car as she was getting out of it in Iswlyn Road in Wattsville on Sunday evening. Gwent Police are now appealing for any CCTV or witnesses that can help them in their investigation.
Angela said: "At around 9.20pm I had arrived at my next delivery location on Islwyn Road in Wattsville. I took off my seatbelt and grabbed the bag of food.
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"I opened the car door and as I was getting out of the car, a man pushed me out of the way and said: 'I want your car.' He got into the driver's seat and starting driving off.
"I am the type of person to put up a fight and in the moment my instinct was to shout and grab the wheel or any part of the car I could.
"It didn't stop him though. He drove off, dragging me along the road with him, and left me there.
"Everything was in that car. My phone, my handbag, my cleaning equipment for my weekday job, as well as my week's worth of earnings – about £500 in cash."
Angela and her husband Kelvin managed to track the car's location through Life360. Police officers and police dogs then found the blue Audi A1 to have been left in St John's Terrace in Crosskeys. The culprit is alleged to have stolen the cash, cleaning equipment, Angela's phone, and her handbag.
"I have been a delivery driver for over 18 years and nothing this awful has ever happened to me before," Angela added.
"It is not like I was down a dark alleyway – it was in broad daylight on a residential road.
"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Now I just feel so angry it makes me cry when I get asked about what happened. But I couldn't have stopped it.
"I remember being so terrified afterward that I collapsed with fear and couldn't breathe. Someone came out of their house then and called the police for me."
Police have confirmed they are investigating the report of theft.
A spokesman for Gwent Police said: "We received a report of the theft of a car in Islwyn Road, Wattsville, Caerphilly borough, at around 9.30pm on Sunday, August 10.
"An unknown man is alleged to have entered the unlocked blue Audi A1 and driven away.
"Officers attended and located the car in St John's Terrace, Crosskeys, at around 10.50pm.
"A handbag containing a quantity of cash, a hoover, cleaning equipment, and a mobile phone are believed to have been stolen from inside the car.
"Inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.
"Anyone who witnessed the reported theft or has relevant CCTV or dashcam footage that could assist our investigation can contact us via our website, call 101, or send us a direct message on our Facebook or X social media pages quoting log reference 2500256088.
"You can also contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 with information or online."
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