Officers arrested two males in Watford following a series of thefts of mobile phones in Bushey, Rickmansworth and Abbots Langley.
On Wednesday, May 17, police received six reports of mobile phones being stolen. Every report had similar circumstances, with the victims saying that they had their phone snatched out of their hands as two people rode past on a motorcycle.
Officers began conducting enquiries in order to identify and locate the offenders, utilising tracking systems on the stolen devices.
They located a motorcycle matching the description of the one used in the thefts in Courtlands Drive, Watford, and a man was arrested at the scene. They also located a rucksack nearby containing several mobile phones, which was recovered.
Shortly after, police were alerted by a member of the public who had seen two males acting suspiciously in Gammons Lane.
Following an extensive area search, with assistance from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Police Dog Unit, a further male was located in woodland off Gammons Lane just after 8.40pm. He was arrested at the scene.
Both males have been released on police bail whilst enquiries continue.
Detective Inspector Dan Bhamra, from the Three Rivers Local Crime Unit, said: “This was a great result, utilising resources across multiple districts and units, and thanks to this teamwork within a number of hours from the first call coming in, we had two suspects in custody and multiple suspected stolen mobile phones seized. These will be returned to their respective owners. Our investigation continues at this time, and I would ask anyone with any information to please report it as soon as possible.”
Anyone with information about any of the thefts can report it online at herts.police.uk/report, speak to an operator in the Force Communications Room via the online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact or call the non-emergency number 101, quoting crime reference ISR 733 of 17/05.
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