Bike thief arrested by police in unmarked car

A video released by West Midlands Police shows the moment an officer jumped from his car to grab and arrest a bike thief while in stationary traffic earlier this year.

Travelling in an unmarked car, PC Mitchell Darby followed 27-year-old David Hart for a while, before discovering the KSR Moto GSR125 he was riding was stolen.

Catching Hart off guard, PC Darby can be seen jumping out of the car to make the arrest on Belchers Lane, Birmingham in May.

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In a statement, PC Darby said: “The bike flagged up as being stolen but we didn’t want to risk not making the arrest; as we did not know whether the rider would race off if he became aware we were officers.

“Once we came into stationary traffic I made the decision to quickly jump out of the car and managed to grab hold and arrest Hart.

“It emerged the bike had been stolen from Northampton almost two weeks earlier and we found that the ignition barrel was completely missing, meaning it had been ‘hot wired,’ while the fuel cap had been forced open as this was usually locked and secured with the key.

“It is not clear who stole it originally but it ended up in the hands of Hart who had no hesitation in treating it like his own.”

 

An image released by WMP of David Hart…

 

After failing to attend Birmingham Magistrate’s court on July 13, Hart was sentenced on July 17 to 100 hours unpaid work, fined £705 costs and victim surcharge and banned from driving for nine months for having no licence and insurance.

Additionally, Hart was also fined £50 for carrying cannibis and a similar fee for failing to attend court. 

PC Darby added: “The action we took highlights that vehicle crime will not be tolerated.”

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