Car thief is caught in team effort
A CAR thief was nabbed following a concerted effort by police and civilians in Wakefield.
The quick response by parking attendants, security officers, CCTV operatives and police officers on the ground ensured Timothy Alcock, 40, a prolific thief, was not able to continue breaking into cars with a dummy key and leaving the vehicles secure once he had stolen from them.
And the quick thinking of the 11 crimefighters is set to net them certificates of commendation from the Wakefield divisional commander of West Yorkshire Police, Chief Supt Tim Moorby.
Alcock, who has since been jailed for four months at Huddersfield Magistrates Court, was caught red-handed by officers in November last year with the set of duplicate car keys in his hands at the Ridings Shopping Centre car park. Parking
attendant Mark Willans recognised the man from previous stills distributed by acting sergeant Phil Leather.
He then passed the information to his control room, who quickly instructed security officer Mick Place to follow him as he left the shopping centre.
Mr Willans continued to liaise with CCTV operators Val Brook and Gareth Waterson using one of the walkie talkies bought as part of the city’s extensive retail radio scheme.
The thief was kept under close observation by CCTV as he made his way to a nearby car park with PC Abi McMahon in the CCTV control room using radios to keep PCs Simon
Cardus and Mark Beattie up to date with his progress before they arrested him in the car park.
A subsequent search of his home by PCs Cardus, Beattie and Ian Vaughen led to the discovery of more stolen property including some children’s Christmas presents stolen from a parked car.
The 40-year-old local man was interviewed by DCs Stuart Smith and Mark Wilson and he asked for a string of similar offences to be taken into consideration.
Chief Supt Moorby said: “This is an excellent example of partnership working, highlighting the clear benefits of having a retail radio system and the local authority CCTV system.
“Speed was important and everyone involved deserves to be congratulated for the part they played. There’s been a noticeable drop in the amount of car crime reported in the area since his conviction.”
The 11 will be presented with their certificates by the Mayor of Wakefield, Coun Don Hitchen.
geoff.fox@ypn.co.uk
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Wakefield
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Heavy snow
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: West
