Watch moment Sheffield man is threatened with baseball bat for confronting gang tampering with his car

He challenged a group of men after spotting them next to his car on Crabtree Lane, Fir Vale, on Friday night, but was forced to retreat when one of them produced a bat.

A CCTV camera captured a gang of men pull up in a car next to his Toyota.

One man is captured getting out of the car and using a jack to lift the Toyota up, with suspicions that the aim was to steal its catalytic converter, which are routinely stolen and cashed in for the value of the precious metal used to make them.

Another catalytic converter was stolen from a car on a neighbouring street at a similar time.

The gang fled from the Toyota empty-handed after being disturbed.

The Toyota owner said: “By chance I was looking out of my window and saw my car rocking.

“I went outside and shouted ‘what are you doing’ as I approached my car and I could see that it was being jacked up.

“Then someone came towards me with a baseball bat to stop me getting any closer.

“I think there were four people involved altogether and that two of them had bats.

“I shouted for my wife to call the police and they drove off quickly.”

He said a car parked on a neighbouring street had its catalytic converter stolen at at similar time.

The concerned resident fears the gang may attempt to strike again.

“It is worrying how easy it appears to be for people to steal catalytic converters and if your car is targeted it is going to cost you hundreds, not to mention the inconvenience too, so I hope they don’t come back,” he said.

A speech and language therapist who works at the nearby Northern General Hospital recently had a catalytic converter stolen from her Honda Jazz when she parked it on Horndean Road at the start of a shift.

Anyone with information on those involved in the thefts should call South Yorkshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.

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