THIS is the moment have-a-heroes swoop on suspected shoplifters loading up their car with stolen groceries.
Video shows three men throwing shopping into their car in a Tesco’s car park in Waltham Abbey, Essex, yesterday.
The trio are seen hastily shoving groceries from a shopping trolley before jumping into the black BMW.
But before they drive away, a group of men storm the vehicle and start demanding the gang get out of the car.
They open the doors and begin to pull the alleged shoplifters out of the car as they attempt to fight back.
Shocked witnesses are heard saying “call the police” as a Tesco security worker arrives and attempts to open the boot.
The men manage to get the three out of the car – but the struggle to restrain them continues.
One of then alleged thieves then attempts to headbutt one of the men and ends up falling to the ground.
Police later arrived on the scene and arrested two of the men, aged 17 and 27, on suspicion of theft.
They have been released on conditional bail and have been banned from the Tesco store.
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Detective Chief Inspector Alan Blakesley, of our West Local Policing Area, said: “We’re acutely aware of the impact theft has on our businesses and we work extremely hard, first and foremost, to respond to incidents when they happen and make arrests and, secondly, to ensure businesses are supported by our dedicated business crime team when they feel they would benefit from that independent advice.
“In this case, officers from our community policing team arrived quickly to make arrests and we thank all members of the public who reported the incident to us.”
It comes as new figures revealed a shocking increase in violence directed towards frontline employees.
Tesco boss Ken Murphy described the impact on staff as "heartbreaking" and slammed the assaults as "unacceptable".
The chief executive has now called for changes to the law and policing, reports MailOnline.
Meanwhile, across the sector, attacks have doubled in the last six years, costing stores more than £950 million in 2022.
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And the British Retail Consortium claims cops rarely turn up when incidents are reported.
A recent survey found episodes of violence and abuse against retail workers increased from 450 a day in 2019 to more than 850 a day last year.
Staff report being sworn at, subjected to racial or sexual insults, physically threatened, spat on and subjected to physical violence.
Mr Murphy said Tesco has invested £200million over the last four years on security measures such as door access systems, protection screens and digital radios.
Shoplifting costs firms nearly £1 billion a year and officers currently fail to attend more than two-thirds of serious retail crimes.
The Co-op logged almost 1,000 incidents a day of retail crime in the six months to June.
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This was an increase of 35 per cent on the same period in 2022 and its highest ever levels.
A spokesperson for Tesco said: “We are aware of an incident which occurred at our Waltham Abbey Superstore and we are assisting police with their inquiries.”
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