An eagle-eyed Special Constable caught a thief red-handed on Friday night 13/01, when he noticed a suspicious vehicle just before midnight. The officer was on patrol around the Congresbury area when he noticed a van parked across the gateway of a field. Given the late hour, the officer went to investigate and his suspicions were confirmed the driver ran away as he approached. Fortunately he didn’t get far and was detained by the officer.
Items including a ride-on lawn mower, tree shredder/chipper, a generator, a hedge trimmer and tree pruners were found in and near the van and officers later confirmed that two separate garages had been broken into and the items recovered matched those that were taken.
The 34 year-old man from Hewish was arrested on suspicion of two non-dwelling burglaries and was taken to Patchway Custody Centre. He has been released on bail pending further investigation. The officers were able to reunite the property with the rightful owners.
If you have information about suspected crime in your area you can either email the Police via the website, call us on 101 or text a new number 81819 we have launched which will allow the public to text information directly to the Rural Crime Team, who will be able to assess and action the intelligence quickly and efficiently. This text number is specifically for rural and agricultural crime information and is being trialled for three months.