A man was arrested on suspicion of theft from a campervan after police mistakenly stopped him believing he was wanted on recall to prison.
Officers stopped the 38-year-old in Hardwick Street, Mansfield, at around 2.50pm on Thursday 22 October and checked his details while searching him.
They established that he was not wanted on recall, but found two bank cards which they linked to a theft reported earlier that day.
A wallet containing the cards, a digital car play set and a pair of sunglasses had been stolen during a break-in at a campervan in the Mansfield area in the early hours of Thursday. The incident was discovered and reported several hours later.
The man was arrested on suspicion of theft from a motor vehicle.
Sergeant Chelsea Seals, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a great example of the unexpected discoveries our response officers can make while out on patrol.
“Having initially – and mistakenly as it turned out – stopped this individual for an unrelated offence, the team quickly identified something that aroused their suspicions.
“Some good police work then helped link two bank cards they’d seized to a theft from a vehicle that had been reported in the area a few hours earlier.
“This then resulted in an arrest, so it was a good result all-round.”
