A MAN who helped a crime victim ended up badly hurt.
The man and a friend were sitting in a car at Thomas Street in Heckmondwike when they saw three robbers steal a mountain bike from another man.
The thieves escaped with the bike at 9.45 last night and the men offered to help the crime victim.
He jumped in their car and they chased the youths who were escaping on the stolen bike and a BMX bike.
The pursuit continued into Church Street and Station Lane.
They confronted the robbers at Station Lane and tried to get the bike back, but one of the thieves jumped into a garden, picked up a stone and hurled it at the car driver.
It hit him hard in the face and top of his body, knocking him over.
The thieves dumped the bike and fled.
The driver, a 23-year- old man from Heckmondwike, suffered a fractured jaw, a broken collarbone and cuts.
The thieves had punched and kicked the cyclist in his face and stomach when they took his mountain bike, but he was not badly hurt.
All three thieves are white men aged between 18 and 25.
Det Con Russ Conlon said: "These were terrible injuries inflicted on a man who had come to help a fellow citizen who was himself being attacked.
"It is imperative these three are caught as soon as possible."
Anyone who knows who they are should contact Huddersfield CID on 01484 436582.
