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CCTV footage captured the moment two brazen thieves armed with a sledgehammer carried out a carjacking in broad daylight.
The hooded men can be seen walking calmly towards the Vauxhall Corsa in Sparkbrook, Birmingham before forcing a passenger out the car and speeding off.
Horrified onlookers said the pair carried out the theft in mere seconds and said many just stood by and watched as they carried out the assault.
The passenger gets to his feet and is lucky to escape serious injury as he desperately tries to open the driver's side door as the robbers speed off.
The attack took place near a general store and housing for senior citizens.
An eyewitness who has since viewed the footage said she is still in shock at what she saw. The 17-year-old said: 'The CCTV shows how quickly it happened.
'When I witnessed it time seemed to go in slow motion but the video shows it was over in a matter of seconds. The CCTV shows the carjacking from a different angle and you can't see the sledgehammer.
'He must have hidden it in his clothes before he used it to hit the victim.'
The unnamed teenager, who dialled 999, said at the time that she was disappointed that people stood and watched the robbery.
'I'm still in shock and I'm still disappointed that people stood and watched, not just while it was happening but afterwards when the victim was pleading for help.
'I was down the road in the back of a car and wanted to get out and help but it was all over by the time we could do anything.
'It makes me think if something happened to me that people would just stand around and try and film it.'
The driver is thought to have been inside a shop at the time.
'The boy had a couple of grazes on his hands and his eye was starting to swell up,' the eyewitness added.
'The driver of the car came out the shop and he was absolutely ballistic. He ran up the road to see if he could see the car. It was sickening and I felt like crying.'
A series of carjackings in Birmingham and surrounding areas have led West Midlands Police to set up a special unit to tackle the crimes.
It was revealed on Monday how there have been at least 20 such incidents in the space of just five months.Police have made a series of arrests and warned teenagers not to be 'coerced' into taking part in the crimes.
West Midlands Police said: 'We have launched an investigation after a car was stolen on Palmerston Road, Sparkbrook on Sunday March 12.
'The driver of a grey Vauxhall Corsa had parked outside a shop at around 2.15pm.
'While he was away from the car, a man jumped into the driver's seat and assaulted the passenger.'