Car chase will be ‘absolutely disgusting on video’, says shocked robber as police finally catch up with him after gang’s wave of Covid raids has now seen them jailed for a total of 53 years

That’s when a serial thief tells the arresting officers that the car chase will be “absolutely disgusting on video.”

Five fraudsters who targeted 14 premises including shops and even a hospital during the Covid lockdown in 2020 were today sentenced to a total of 53 years in prison.

As all members of the gang are put behind bars, West Midlands Police have released footage of the moment the burglars were arrested during a raid in Oldbury.

Officers were taken on a 15-minute chase before the red van was rammed several times by officers before the fleeing driver, Nicholas Collins, made a strange moan. to officers to ask them what the chase would look like on video.

As he was being led away in handcuffs, he said, “Why were you chasing me? Look what just happened. Of course I’m angry, I’m going to jail now. You know, dangerous driving and all that.”

“This is going to be ridiculous on tape, for sure. This is going to be an absolutely disgusting chase on tape, guys. Thank you very much, because you know what an absolute (fat) (fat) I’m going to look like to anyone who sees this. And all because you were chasing me for what?”

Collins was part of a gang that carried out robberies and armed attacks in the Midlands.

The crime spree began on January 6, 2020, when they drove to Stoke-on-Trent in a cloned car and stole two Audis before driving all three back to the West Midlands.

The following day, they used one of the Audis to raid a West Bromwich subway, where they stole a safe and ripped out the CCTV system.

Hours later they smashed a hole in the wall of a garage in Wolverhampton, ransacking an office and stealing tools. The same day they went to a money transfer agency in Tipton, where they ripped off a roller shutter.

While trying to remove a safe, they were disturbed by the officers and fled.

On January 19, two members of the gang burgled a shop in Oldbury armed with crowbars, which they used to threaten terrified staff. The workers were forced to their knees while the gang broke into a safe and made off with thousands of pounds.

Three days later, on January 22, they tried to open a cash machine at a shop in Washwood Heath Road, Birmingham, but were again interrupted by police. As they fled the scene, they left their tools behind.

Despite the failure of the raid, the gang were undeterred and attacked a shop in the Milking Ban area of ​​Dudley on January 28. They used a ‘jaws of life’ machine, normally used by firefighters, to gain entry to the shop before blowing up a cash machine using gas.

Despite the raid, they fled empty-handed again.

On January 30, CCTV cameras captured them entering Cannock Hospital, where they tried, unsuccessfully, to withdraw money from a cash machine.

Footage shows them using their van to ram police officers as they escaped.

On February 1, the gang attacked a shop on Lichfield Road, Walsall Wood, and destroyed the entire entrance.

They tried to slide a cash machine through the store using heavy straps, but were forced to abandon the raid when the machine caught on the shutters.

On March 6, they used the same technique in a raid on a store in Warstones Lane, Wolverhampton. They failed to escape with the cash machine when the straps snapped as it was dragged through the destroyed store.

On April 25, police attempted to stop a van carrying gang member Mark Lake but he turned around and drove the wrong way down the M6 ​​junction 7 slip road.

Dash cam footage showed him driving at high speed for about a half-mile on the hard shoulder on the wrong side of the highway.

He abandoned the van and escaped on foot, but when officers searched the vehicle they found scaffolding with straps.

They had been welded onto the vehicle’s chassis to make it easier for the gang to dismantle the ATMs.

On June 4, the gang struck again, storming a shop in Turners Lane, Brierley Hill.

They ripped out the staff’s panic alarms and began removing the crates before fleeing.

On June 7, the group carried out their final robbery at a shop in Howley Grange Road, Halesowen.

Masked and armed with hammers and crowbars, they rushed into the store, terrifying an elderly customer and threatening staff, forcing them into the back office.

They broke and took the boxes and demanded access to the safe, but were unable to gain entry.

Four days later, police arrested the gang while they were driving a red van with cloned number plates.

Collins, who was driving, was electrocuted before being arrested. Mark Lake was trapped in the van and was arrested along with Darren Fitzpatrick who was found in a rear bulkhead of the vehicle.

A fourth gang member, Dean Isitt, was arrested as he tried to flee his home in Clyde Street. Isitt was then arrested as he tried to flee his home in Clyde Street, Old Hill, Cradley Heath.

The gang were convicted of a series of offences including conspiracy to commit robbery, conspiracy to commit burglary and driving offences.

They were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday.

Lake, 43, of West Bromwich, was jailed for 18 years for conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to burgle.

Isitt, 45, of Cradley Heath, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the same offences.

Fitzpatrick, 38, of Tividale, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the same offences.

Collins, 41, of West Bromwich, was jailed for six years and 20 months for conspiracy to burgle and driving offences.

A fifth man, John Williamson, 42, of Smethwick, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, suspended for two years, for conspiracy to burgle.

Detective Constable John Marsh, of West Midlands Police’s Major Crime Unit, said: “This was a long series of very serious offences, in which innocent members of the public were terrorised in their workplace as this gang used force to steal from shops and businesses across the area.

“The CCTV footage shows how ruthless and reckless they were.

“We have gathered mobile phone evidence, as well as vehicle movement details and forensic analysis from items left at the gang’s crime scenes to build a really compelling case.”