Watch "Manic Motorist" Smashes Car Through Takeaway Window

4 July 2019, 12:56 | Updated: 28 October 2019, 15:21

Watch the moment this "manic motorist" smashes his car through the font of a takeaway before running away.

Shocking footage released by police shows Anthony Richmond, 33, smashing his Renault Clio through the front window of Barnes Grill and Pizzeria, in Sunderland in May.

Police said: "The manic motorist, who had driven off following a separate collision with another car shortly before, then fled the scene and walked to a nearby address before jumping in a taxi."

However, officers were able to find and arrest him after "alert members of the public" called 999 and told them where he went.

Richmond, of no fixed abode, was charged with a string of driving offences including dangerous driving, failing to stop after an accident and driving without insurance.

He was jailed for 16 months and disqualified from driving for three years by a judge at Newcastle Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to all offences.

PC Graham Fisher, of Northumbria Police, said: “It is incredibly lucky that nobody was seriously injured as a result of Anthony Richmond’s actions that night.

“He was initially involved in a minor collision at traffic lights on the A183 and drove away from the scene without exchanging details or contacting police.

“A short time later, he smashed the same car through the front window of a takeaway. Had customers have been inside, his dangerous driving could have easily led to a fatality."