Police officer borrows schoolboy’s bike to chase down suspect
A police officer chased down a suspected burglar on a tiny children’s bike after borrowing it from its owner in the street.
PC Harriett Taylor was searching for a wanted man in Gosport, Hampshire, on Saturday night when she saw a schoolboy with his bike.
According to her force, she ‘needed some pedal power’ to help capture the suspect, so asked asked the boy: ‘Please can I borrow your bike? I will return it to you.’
The boy is said to have replied: ‘Erm… yeah, okay then.’
Bodycam footage from one of her colleagues shows PC Taylor speeding off on the pushbike, which she was forced to pedal while stood upright.
PC Taylor appeared to struggle to withhold laughing at the situation as she rode off through the town centre.
She eventually caught up with the suspect, a 47-year-old male who was arrested on suspicion of theft, burglary and shoplifting, before returning the bike intact.
Hampshire Police issued a statement reassuring any people who saw the bizarre sight that ‘your eyes weren’t deceiving you’.
Joking that the boy was welcome to borrow a police car when he needed one, it added: ‘Thank you so much for the generous loan of your bike, young man!
‘You, and your bike, were a great help to us!’
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