Police seized a car and arrested a suspect – less than two hours after a break-in at a garage was reported.
Officers were called shortly before 9.45am yesterday morning (Monday) after a catalytic converter was stolen overnight from a car at a garage in Little Tennis Street, Nottingham.
After viewing CCTV footage of the incident Nottinghamshire Police began searching for a vehicle that was spotted at the scene.
The car was spotted by an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera system, followed and pulled over in Hucknall Road shortly after 11.30am.
A 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of theft and his car was seized.
Chief Inspector Riz Khan, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a great result made possible by swift and professional teamwork by many different colleagues, from our control room to the roads policing unit. By acting so quickly on the available evidence we were able to add a suspect vehicle to our daily target list and locate it less than two hours after this crime was first reported to us.
“This incident should also serve as a reminder to businesses about the value of CCTV coverage of their premises. Without it we simply would not have been able to act so quickly.”
Catalytic converters are used to reduce harmful exhaust emissions. They have become a popular target for thieves because of the various precious metals they contain – all of which are increasingly valuable on the scrap metal market.