Suspected phone thief jumps into London pond to evade police, six mobiles recovered

A 21-year-old fled officers on an e-bike before leaping into a London pond and discarding six foil-wrapped phones. The arrest is part of the Met's largest-ever crackdown on mobile phone theft.

Man leaps into London pond during police chase, six phones retrieved from water

A suspected mobile phone thief jumped into a London pond in an apparent attempt to escape pursuing officers, bbc.co.uk reports. The Metropolitan Police captured the incident on CCTV and body-worn cameras.

The 21-year-old had fled on an e-bike before discarding multiple phones in the water. Officers waded in and retrieved six handsets wrapped in foil — a method thieves use to block signals and prevent tracking.

The Met said the arrest, made last month, formed part of a wider operation targeting mobile phone theft across the capital. The force describes it as its largest-ever crackdown of this kind, with more than 700 arrests recorded so far.

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)