Stolen Mercedes fished from River Severn in Shrewsbury
A Mercedes sports car has been pulled out of the River Severn after it was stolen from the chairman of Shrewsbury Civic Society.
The silver Mercedes belonging to Byron Grainger-Jones was stolen on Thursday night from his home in Monkmoor Road and crashed into a wall in Queen Street, Castlefields, before being rolled into the river by the weir nearby.
Two men were arrested in connection with the incident on suspicion of aggravated vehicle taking on Friday, and the car was fished out of the river yesterday afternoon.
Byron said: "I had been doing a Zoom meeting on Thursday night. One minute the car was there in my front drive, the next minute it had vanished. Thankfully nobody tried to break into the house.
"I knew it had been stolen. I had a phone call from the police to say it was a possibility that it was my car that was in the river. They searched the river and nobody was in the car."
The car is now at a garage to see if it can be saved after more than 36 hours underwater.
The ordeal has left Byron feeling worried that he was targeted specifically by the culprits, and hopes anyone with more information will come forward and tell police.
"I just don't understand the motivation. Whether it was joyriding, I don't know. It doesn't look like they wanted it for parts.
"I'm very sad to see it happen."
The incident caused alarm in Castlefields, where many people were woken up by a loud bang.
Police officers put a cordon in place to stop people walking along the footpath next to the weir, and also put tape across the wall the car hit outside the Shrewsbury Triratna Buddhist Centre.
Detective Chief Inspector Mike Nally said: “At just before 1.30am we received a report that a car had entered the River Severn at Severn Bank, Shrewsbury.
"An area search was carried out and two men aged 31 and 25 were arrested on suspicion of aggravated vehicle taking and remain in police custody."
A further search of the local area and the river was carried out with the firefighters.
