Officers connected an intruder to a series of Nottingham bar burglaries based on his drink of choice.
Reece Wheat stole thousands of pounds’ worth of cash and other valuables during his two-week theft spree.
Three Nottingham-based premises were targeted by the 28-year-old – on 28 November, 1 December, and 12 December.
Wheat was captured on CCTV during the first two break-ins, casually making his way around the premises while drinking Red Bull.
On both occasions, the thief finished his drink before helping himself to whatever was inside the till and any other valuables he could find.
He then fled from the scene during the early hours of the morning with the stolen items – but not with the now-discarded cans of energy drink.
Both cans were retrieved by officers, who then took forensic samples from them that matched Wheat and therefore linked him to the respective offences.
Having managed to flee from the scene following the first two burglaries, Wheat wasn’t so lucky when he broke into a third Nottingham bar on 12 December.
The thief once again emptied the till and tried to make his escape, but was this time spotted, tracked down, and caught by officers shortly afterwards.
Based on that sighting and the forensic matches, Wheat would go on to be charged with three counts of burglary.
He was also charged with two thefts in one day (26 October) from the same Nottingham city centre-based shop.
Appearing before Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Saturday (13 December), Wheat, of Coach Road, Ripley, pleaded guilty to all five offences.
The burglar will now spend his Christmas and New Year in custody while he waits to be sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on 2 January.
PC Madison Hayes said: “Our officers conducted extensive inquiries following these three burglaries that all helped identify Wheat as the perpetrator.
“While a rapid area search led to him being quickly identified with stolen cash after the 12 December burglary, we were also able to forensically link him to two previous break-ins too.
“That’s after officers managed to recover cans of Red Bull the intruder drank from and then discarded while breaking into two other bars around a week or so earlier.
“The weight of that evidence – coupled with the CCTV footage we gathered – ensured Wheat had no choice but to admit what he’d done, so we look forward to him being sentenced in the New Year.”
