This is the moment a shopkeeper turned the tables on a machete-wielding thug by trapping him inside his shop during an attempted robbery.
Officers are chasing two men following the incident in the Smethwick area of Birmingham earlier this month, in which three people entered a shop with a large knife.
CCTV footage of the attempted robbery shows one of the thugs demanding money from the till while threatening to stab the shopkeeper.
Meanwhile, his accomplice can be seen helping himself to items on the shelves of the Taas Express store.
The shopkeeper runs out from behind the counter, picks up two bottles of wine and smashes them on the floor to confuse the thieves.
He then manages to run out of the store and close the door behind him, trapping two suspects, one of whom is still holding the machete.
The machete-wielding thief tries to escape the store after getting trapped inside by the shopkeeper.
The thug uses the machete to cut the glass in a desperate attempt to escape.
The unarmed person claims to be an innocent party who is threatened by the thug holding the machete and begs the staff member to let them out.
The thief tries to break the glass with his machete to try to escape, but he fails.
The store employee pulls the door handle along with a passerby who helps prevent the thieves from opening the door. The machete welder robber is then seen using the weapon to chisel away at the glass in a desperate attempt to escape.
The unarmed person claimed to be an innocent party who was threatened by the thug holding the machete and begged the staff member to let them out.
The two people outside continue to hold the door closed by pulling on the handle.
The suspects eventually managed to leave the shop and flee by climbing through the bathroom window at the rear of the building, prompting a search by West Midlands Police.
Rajasingam Tharshiya, the owner of the shop, said one of the suspects escaped before they closed the door.
“These two guys came in with knives and started demanding money from my staff. “He had the presence of mind to run from behind the counter and out the door, one of them beat him to it and ran away,” she said. The Telegraph.
The thief threatens the shopkeeper with his machete before the quick-witted clerk locks him inside.
Officers are still searching for the suspects who eventually escaped through a bathroom window.
“The other man trapped inside started banging on the glass and I believe the third man was also with them as they both escaped through the bathroom window together.”
He added: “It’s very scary that this could happen, and our worker was very shaken but luckily came out unharmed.”
A police spokesperson said: “We were called shortly before 7pm on April 18 to reports of a disorder at a shop in Bearwood Road, Smethwick. A store worker was threatened with a knife and the offenders attempted to steal items from the store.
‘The shop worker, along with members of the public, attempted to lock the offenders in the shop to prevent them from fleeing the scene. During this, the front door of the store was smashed.
“A boy, aged 17, was arrested on suspicion of robbery and has since been released on bail pending further inquiries.”