Man who stole bulldozer and caused havoc on roads jailed

A man who stole a 24-tonne bulldozer and drove it through Wolverhampton and Walsall causing havoc on the roads has been jailed. 

Darren Coffey, of Harborne Park Road, Birmingham, stole the bulldozer from an address in Staffordshire on 8 November last year. 

Darren Coffey

Crossing the border into Wolverhampton, officers were alerted just before 5.40pm that the Caterpillar D6 had been stolen. 

Travelling along main roads, and causing damage to street signs and road surfaces, Coffey continued driving through Wolverhampton in an attempt to get to Willenhall to settle a dispute. 

The 41-year-old, in possession of two petrol cans, called into the control room stating he was going to burn down a property on New Road, Willenhall.

Officers from the drone and dogs unit, response officers and traffic all joined together to try stop him and protect the public. 

The teams were also assisted by the National Police Air Service (NPAS) who tracked the bulldozer from the air. 

Due to the sheer size of the machine officers kept their vehicles at a safe distance to prevent innocent members of the public from ending up in the pathway of the bulldozer.

With authority to use a HGV in an attempt to stop the vehicle, the teams blocked the carriageway in Moseley Village, Wolverhampton, using the lorry as a static road block to try and bring the incident to an end. 

Coffey then struck the HGV to the rear forcing his way through and onto the wrong side of the carriageway.

A short time later Coffey reversed the machine at speed towards numerous police cars but thankfully officers were able to act quickly and move out of the way.

Nearly three hours after we were first alerted to the incident he finally brought the machine to a stop at 8.15pm and was arrested. 

He appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Wednesday (29 April) after pleading guilty to driving a motor vehicle dangerously, failing to stop, no insurance, no license and threat to damage or destroy property. He also admitted two counts of criminal damage, drink driving, and aggravated vehicle taking and vehicle damage under £5,000. 

Coffey was jailed for 18 months and banned from driving for three years and nine months.  

PC Rodgers, of West Midlands Police, said: “Coffey’s actions back in November put innocent members of the public at risk of serious harm and caused a large amount of damage to street furniture and roads.

“This incident saw teams from across the force work together alongside our colleagues from NPAS to try to bring Coffey’s dangerous actions to a stop. 

“Thankfully after three hours the incident came to an end, and officers took him into custody. 

“But this whole incident placed a lot of people at risk, so I hope that this sentence and time in prison will give him some time to think about the sheer devastation that could have happened due to his actions on that night.”