Woman screams for help as dragged out of a house and forced into a car in a suspected kidnapping

By Emily Jane Davies and John Siddle 11:25 14 Aug 2024, updated 17:04 14 Aug 2024

This is the moment a woman desperately screamed for help as she was dragged out of a house and forced into a car in a suspected kidnapping.

Footage captured by a home CCTV camera shows the woman dragged from a house in Bradford, West Yorks, and forced into a waiting car in the dead of night.

A major police investigation has led to a man, 31, being arrested on suspicion of the alleged abduction.

He remains in police custody being quizzed by West Yorkshire Police detectives.

An alert was raised shortly before 4.45am yesterday morning over concerns for the safety of the woman.

High-pitched screaming can be heard in the footage as the man appeared to force her into the front passenger seat, with the woman begging for help and sobbing.

The man then walked to the driver's side of the car, got in and left the scene.

Police said a vehicle matching the description was stopped by officers yesterday afternoon and the driver, 31, was arrested.

The force said they have located the woman involved and said she is now 'safe and well'.

Locals today told how they were woken up by screams of the suspected kidnap victim who appeared to be forced into a car in the dead of night.

Speaking today, a man who lives in the house adjacent to the incident told how he was woken up by the woman's screams in Durham Terrace, Bradford.

The taxi driver, who did not want to be named, said he initially thought it was daughter crying in an upstairs bedroom.

But when he realised it wasn't, he looked out of his window to see the car driving off.

He said: 'I heard screaming just before 5am, but I had my fan on because it's so hot, I couldn't really hear where it was coming from.

'I thought it was my daughter at first, but then it sounded like it was getting further away.

'I looked out the window and saw the car – I think it was a silver Passat – and it drove off and went up Fairbank road.

'Two minutes later, the police were at the door.

'I don't know what happened prior [to the incident]. It's just bizarre.

'It looks like they've perhaps had an argument and she's gone to get away from him and he's dragged her into the car.

'I've lived here 34 years and in all that time, there's been nothing like that here.'

West Yorkshire Police said they were called at 4.43am on Tuesday morning to a report of concern for safety involving a woman on Fairbank Road in the city.

The incident has left the quiet street shocked.

Another local, who did not wish to be named, said: 'I heard the screaming and I came out to see what was going on. It looked like the car drove up Fairbank Road and turned right.

'What happened before [the incident], I don't know. The woman looked like she was hiding from the man behind a car that was parked on the street.'

A spokesperson for the force said the woman left the scene in a vehicle.

A vehicle matching its description was stopped that afternoon and the driver - a 31-year-old man - was arrested on suspicion of kidnap, the force said.

The suspect was taken into custody but police said today that he has been released on conditional bail.

A spokesperson said: 'Officers are satisfied they have identified the female involved and that she is safe and well.'