One of the good things about police officers and police community support officers who use pedal bikes at work, is that they tend to be fairly fit.
Whereas, on the other hand, most criminals who use pedal bikes tend not to be that fit meaning that bike chases really can be a battle of the fittest.
The ‘battle of the fitness’ came to a head recently when a police officer from Derbyshire Constabulary found himself in hot pursuit of a male that had initially been willing to speak to the police community support officer who ended up having to give chase.
However, when the PCSO wanted to search the males bag, the male had other ideas and cycled off.
Even with a considerable head-start, the PCSO still managed to catch up with the suspect.
Watching the video below, reminded me a bit of watching a horse race, where all your money is on one particular horse that starts the race behind all of the other horses.
Except in this case, catching a potential criminal was at stake rather than just winning a few quid.
As he makes his escape, the suspect ends up cycling by quite a few members of the public and I think that had I of seen the ‘pursuit’ then I might have been tempted to throw a large stick at the wheels of the suspects bike.
But thats just me…
Having not seen many bike pursuits during my own time whilst serving in the Metropolitan Police (I was lazy so only ever drove a car) then I was not quite sure how this pursuit was going to end.
Is the PCSO going to kick the male off the bike? Would the PCSO ram the suspect or push him into a canal or lake?
You’ll have to watch the video below in order to find out…
A post shared on the Derbyshire Constabulary facebook page said:
‘We have released dramatic footage of the moment a Derby man was chased and arrested for going equipped to steal bikes from Pride Park.
‘The man, 37-year-old Scott Liddle of no fixed abode, was disturbed by one of our Police Community Support Officers from the Alvaston Safer Neighbourhood Team near to the bike shelter at the rear of the train station.
‘PCSO Jim Sadler was on crime prevention patrols on his pedal cycle on the afternoon of Thursday, August 23, when he came across Mr Liddle on a bike acting suspiciously. When he stopped to talk to him, Mr Liddle cycled off but not before handing over his back-pack to Jim.
‘The subsequent chase through the cycle lanes towards the city centre was caught on PCSO Sadler’s body worn video. Jim was able to give a commentary to his colleagues and shortly after, Mr Liddle was arrested. The bag he handed over to Jim was found to contain bolt-croppers.
‘On Saturday, August 25 Scott Liddle appeared at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to going equipped for theft and the theft of a pedal cycle from St Christopher’s Way, Derby earlier that week. He was given a suspended 18-week prison sentence.
‘In a further development, Mr Liddle has been arrested again this week for further thefts of bikes in the city and yesterday Wednesday, September 5, magistrates at the same court jailed him for 36 weeks. He was also issued with a three-year Criminal Behaviour Order to keep him away from certain parts of Derby City.
‘We will be publishing details of this order closer to his prison release date.
Written by one of the many admins of Emergency Services Humour who is also a regular blogger in our fortnightly eMagazine ’S__ts & Giggles’ which you can sign up to by visiting our Facebook page and clicking on the ‘sign up’ button or by visiting: ShitsAndGiggles.Online
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