Nottinghamshire officers teamed up with the Metropolitan Police to track down the individual more than 100 miles away at Heathrow Airport.
They were identified as a suspect in a break-in at a university campus in Nottingham where around £15,000 worth of property was stolen.
A wide variety of electronic appliances were among the items taken from buildings across the University of Nottingham site, based near University Boulevard.
The thefts took place on 18 March, between 4.25pm and 7.20pm, with officers in Nottinghamshire identifying a suspect after analysing available CCTV across the campus.
After circulating this information to other forces nationwide, Nottinghamshire Police were notified that someone matching the suspect’s description was due to fly out of London’s Heathrow Airport.
Before this could happen, Metropolitan Police officers swooped in and intercepted them on Wednesday (9 April) afternoon, as they were queuing up to board an international flight to Germany.
The 34-year-old man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of burglary.
PC Alex Beardsley, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“This was a great example of our officers working closely with other police forces to get a positive result.
“On this occasion, we were able to relay information we had about an outstanding burglary suspect, with Metropolitan Police colleagues then kindly doing the honours and arresting him at Heathrow Airport.
“In fact, they got there just in time to stop the individual from boarding an outgoing flight to Germany.
“Burglary is a completely unacceptable crime that will always be met with a police response matching the seriousness of this offence.
“That includes working with neighbouring forces across county borders.
“A high-value number of items were stolen during this burglary, so it’s pleasing to have been able to take action by arresting a suspect we’d been trying to locate for some time.”
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