Hapless suspect thief '˜stumbles into path' of police officers in Portadown

A suspected thief allegedly tried to evade arrest by giving a false name after '˜stumbling into the path' of Portadown police officers who had been searching for him for weeks.

By The Newsroom

Published 30th Oct 2016, 12:44 BST

Updated 31st Oct 2016, 09:52 BST

The individual, whose CCTV image had been circulated by police on social media in connection with several thefts in the area, was stopped at Corcrain on Friday night and found to be driving without insurance.

According to the police, local officers were about to charge and release him when one of the officers ‘sensed something wasn’t right’.

Further checks revealed his true identity and led to more charges being pressed including several thefts and driving whilst disqualified.

Afterwards Craigavon police took to their Facebook page: “Turns out one of our early Op Exposure identifications who we had been looking for had stumbled into our path! Result”, they posted.

On Friday night, police in Portadown also arrested a drunk driver, and an individual was charged for possession of a Class B drug and a string of motoring offences.