Dramatic security footage has captured the moment a courier driver and an alleged would-be thief were flung from a moving van during an attempted robbery in Adelaide’s inner north.
The incident unfolded just after 10am on Tuesday on Regency Road in Prospect when a courier returned from a delivery to find a man sitting in the driver’s seat of his van.
Police said the pair “scuffled” as the 45‑year‑old allegedly tried to drive away.
Dramatic CCTV obtained by 7NEWS shows the van veering off the road and smashing into a tree, the doors flinging open as both men are hurled out onto the bitumen.
“There was a lot of force behind it — they crashed into that tree pretty hard,” witness Jack Austin told 7NEWS.
Moments earlier, the courier driver had been captured trying to stop the alleged opportunistic thief — hanging onto the door and attempting to wrestle back control as the van moved off.
“Seems like the person tried to drive away in the van and the driver went back and tried to gain control,” Austin said.
The courier had stopped near a bus stop to deliver a parcel when the man — who witnesses say had been waiting nearby — allegedly jumped in and tried to take off.
“The doors were kind of half open, and the door ended up being flung all the way open when it crashed into the tree,” Austin said.
The van narrowly missed a Stobie pole before coming to rest. The 41‑year‑old courier driver was taken to hospital with non‑life‑threatening injuries as a precaution.
Police officers arrested the 45‑year‑old at the scene.
He has been charged with illegal use of a motor vehicle, driving unlicensed, cause harm by dangerous driving and acts to endanger life.
He was refused bail and will appear in court on Wednesday.
The vehicle was towed from the scene.
