Police caught a criminal red-handed after officers pursued a stolen camera which had been swiped from inside a car.
Officers from the Mansfield Central Neighbourhood Policing Team were called at around 9:45 am on 24 March 2023 to a car break-in in High Oakham Road, Mansfield.
A thief had stolen a camera and lenses, as well as a satnav and dashcam, from a student who had parked at her boyfriend’s home.
As part of the investigation, officers attended a pawn shop on Wednesday (29 March) and were inside the store when Lewis Langley walked in with a sat nav for sale.
Thirty-two-year-old Langley was arrested with the sat-nav seized and identified as the one taken during the raid on the car.
Langley, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to receiving stolen goods and was jailed for 30 weeks when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (30 March).
Sergeant Alice Bartle, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a fantastic bit of work by the neighbourhood team and I’m really pleased Langley has been put behind bars.
“Officers carried out a very diligent investigation and were able to catch him in the act of trying to sell stolen goods. It demonstrates why we pursue stolen items and try to recover them for victims. It is always a great result when we can reunite victims with their belongings.
“This part of Mansfield has recently seen a spate of thefts from motor vehicles and I hope this provides reassurance to residents that we take reports seriously and work hard to catch offenders, recover stolen items and bring offenders to justice.”
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