A SUSPECTED car thief leapt out of the vehicle just moments before it crashed into a parked car and overturned.

Another motorist gave chase in his vehicle after the suspicious car pulled out in front of him on a busy North Yorkshire road, on Sunday night.

Martin Lacy, 52, of Dodsworth Avenue, York, said he was forced to brake sharply after a white Volvo pulled out into his path on Huntington Road, at about 6pm.

Mr Lacy said he followed the vehicle until he saw the young driver fall out of the car while it was still moving and run down Park Grove.

He gave chase in his car before the suspect ran down a narrow alleyway.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said that officers had already been chasing the suspected car thief, who was detained in a rear garden in Park Grove.