Escaping car thief kills owner

The man was run down in Green Close as he tried to stop his car being stolen

Police investigating the death of a man who was run down as he tried to stop his car being stolen are now treating it as a murder inquiry.

The man, in his 60s, was struck in Green Close, Horfield, in Bristol, just after 2330 GMT on Saturday. He was later declared dead at the scene.

His silver Skoda hatchback was driven down Montreal Avenue before being abandoned in Shakespeare Avenue.

A post mortem examination was being carried out on the man's body.

A spokeswoman for the Great Western Ambulance Service said the patient "had sustained massive head and chest injuries".

Det Ch Insp Richard Kelvey said: "We know that during the theft of the vehicle, the owner tried to intervene.

"Unfortunately, the vehicle was then used to strike him and that has led to his death.

"We are now treating this as a murder inquiry."

It's quite shocking really, when you hear about it and it's on your own front doorstep Resident

He described the offender as a white man in his early 20s, of slim build with brown spiky hair

"I think the way to solve this murder will be through the community," he said.

"People within the community will have some idea of who may be responsible, they may able to help us with a name or someone who has been acting strangely today or who has told them about an incident which went wrong overnight."

The area was sealed off while police investigations continued. Police officers have been in the area on Monday afternoon carrying out house-to-house enquiries and providing reassurance patrols.

One man living in the road told the BBC: "One of our housemates heard the car and some screeching [of tyres] but didn't think anything of it.

"It's quite shocking really, when you hear about it and it's on your own front doorstep.

"This area is quite bad at times, in the past six weeks, we've had someone punch off a wing mirror on our car and randomly, someone threw our recycling box and smashed our window. That's the area it is."

Around 50 police officers and staff are now involved in the inquiry.

"I want to hear from people with information no matter how insignificant they think it might be, or even if they think we may have already been told," said Det Ch Insp Kelvey.

"This is a tragic and unnecessary death, and we are determined to do everything we can to bring those responsible to justice as quickly as possible."