iain
06-22-2007, 11:33 PM
This one made me laugh. Some people are a disgrace to the criminal underworld :unibrow:
A policeman caught a thief by ringing the mobile he had just stolen and befriending him.
Christopher Crosten, 24, had smashed his way in to the security booth at Bootle's Rolls-Royce complex, attacked a guard and took his car and phone.
Det Sgt Dave Keegan called him, pretended to be the victim, and talked him into the arms of waiting officers.
He said: "I just kept my fingers crossed and hoped that he wouldn't find out I was a police officer."
The robbery happened on Dunningsbridge road in Bootle, Sefton, in January.
Mr Keegan, of Merseyside Police, called the phone when he got to the scene and was surprised when Crosten answered.
"I talked to him and told him and convinced him I was the owner and that I wanted my phone back," he said.
"I told him I lived on his estate and even though I gave him a false name, he convinced himself he knew me and became emotional and apologised for robbing 'one of his own'."
The officer pretended the phone he was calling from was low on credit so he could hang up and radio his colleagues to tell them of Crosten's location.
Crosten was finally stopped near Hillside train station after crashing the car he was driving.
'Fingers crossed'
Mr Keegan said: "I called him again so officers could double check they had the right man and he said 'I can't talk now mate, I'm with the bizzies'.
"It was one of those situations where I wanted to laugh at all times but I had to remain committed to this pretence of a friendship that I had developed with him.
"I just kept my fingers crossed and hoped that he wouldn't find out I was a police officer or that I wasn't who I said I was."
Crosten is now in jail after being sentenced to six-and-a-half years imprisonment.
Mr Keegan is receiving a commendation for his actions from Merseyside Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe.
Source: BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/6228264.stm)
A policeman caught a thief by ringing the mobile he had just stolen and befriending him.
Christopher Crosten, 24, had smashed his way in to the security booth at Bootle's Rolls-Royce complex, attacked a guard and took his car and phone.
Det Sgt Dave Keegan called him, pretended to be the victim, and talked him into the arms of waiting officers.
He said: "I just kept my fingers crossed and hoped that he wouldn't find out I was a police officer."
The robbery happened on Dunningsbridge road in Bootle, Sefton, in January.
Mr Keegan, of Merseyside Police, called the phone when he got to the scene and was surprised when Crosten answered.
"I talked to him and told him and convinced him I was the owner and that I wanted my phone back," he said.
"I told him I lived on his estate and even though I gave him a false name, he convinced himself he knew me and became emotional and apologised for robbing 'one of his own'."
The officer pretended the phone he was calling from was low on credit so he could hang up and radio his colleagues to tell them of Crosten's location.
Crosten was finally stopped near Hillside train station after crashing the car he was driving.
'Fingers crossed'
Mr Keegan said: "I called him again so officers could double check they had the right man and he said 'I can't talk now mate, I'm with the bizzies'.
"It was one of those situations where I wanted to laugh at all times but I had to remain committed to this pretence of a friendship that I had developed with him.
"I just kept my fingers crossed and hoped that he wouldn't find out I was a police officer or that I wasn't who I said I was."
Crosten is now in jail after being sentenced to six-and-a-half years imprisonment.
Mr Keegan is receiving a commendation for his actions from Merseyside Chief Constable Bernard Hogan-Howe.
Source: BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/6228264.stm)