Teenager hiding in field among those arrested as police target car thieves
A number of teenagers - including one hiding in a field - are among those to have been arrested in a police operation targeting car thieves in the Black Country.
Across the space of 12 hours, 10 arrests were made by West Midlands Police, including one teenager found hiding in a field who was identified through thermal imaging from a police drone.
Three men were arrested after stealing a black VW Golf from a driveway on Arbor Gate, in Walsall Wood, at 3.30am on Thursday.
The car was seen, at one point, speeding on the wrong side of a dual carriageway before being abandoned on Lichfield Road and the occupants attempted to flee.
The 26-year-old driver and a 17-year-old were chased down and arrested, while another 17-year-old tried lying low under bushes in a field but was spotted by thermal imaging cameras fitted to a drone.
All three remain in custody.
It follows the arrest at 4.45pm on Wednesday of four teenagers in Rowley Regis and the recovery of two stolen cars.
Armed officers responded to reports of a group of men carrying machetes in Windsor Close, who tried making a run for it. Four teenagers, two aged 17, one 16 and a 15-year-old, were stopped and arrested.
Officers found a Ford Kuga stolen from Tipton High Street on March 15 and a Ford Fiesta stolen in New Square car park in West Bromwich on March 22, which have both been seized.
Officers also recovered machetes plus ‘relay devices’ which are used by thieves to steal vehicles without keys.
At around the same time two more men were being arrested from a stolen car in Dudley after patrol units pulled over a Mitsubishi Shogan in Swancote Road as officers suspected it was on false plates.
The car was found to be stolen in Staffordshire on March 17, and the 33-year-old driver and 17-year-old passenger were arrested for car theft and remain in custody.
The teenager was also arrested for criminal damage after he allegedly kicked and smashed the police car’s rear window.
Finally, officers on patrol in Clare Road in Walsall on March 23 spotted a suspected stolen van, with checks showing it was stolen and had been linked to the theft of telecoms copper wire from a depot worth more than £6,000 on January 18.
The 53-year-old driver was arrested and is still in custody for questioning.
