Police disrupt nighttime cable theft in Newark
Officers act swiftly to prevent thousands of pounds worth of cable being stolen
A nighttime cable theft attempt in Newark was thwarted by police who disturbed thieves removing hundreds of metres of cable from the ground.
Officers patrolling the A617 near Kelham on 1st March were in the right place at the right time to intervene in the theft, which followed a series of high-value cable thefts in the area.
As police approached, multiple vehicles sped away, leading officers to suspect illegal activity.
Upon further inspection, they found that thieves had ripped out around 1,700 metres of cable.
One of the vehicles involved was quickly tracked down and found abandoned in Newark, containing tools and equipment consistent with cable theft.
Further searches led to the discovery of a second vehicle nearby, believed to have been involved and containing several items linked to the theft.
This vehicle was reported stolen from a Newark address two days earlier.
A 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of cable theft and theft of a motor vehicle.
For weeks, the Newark neighbourhood policing team has been collaborating with response officers on an operation targeting cable theft, with several arrests made recently.
Earlier, two men aged 40 and 48 were arrested on suspicion of theft of cable, attempted theft, and being equipped for theft after officers linked them to the theft of tens of thousands of pounds worth of cable.
Inspector Charlotte Ellam, District Commander for Newark and Sherwood, said:
“The officers involved in this incident deserve great credit for being so vigilant and working together to achieve a positive result.
"Our neighbourhood and response teams have been running an operation together targeting the high-value theft of cable from in and around Newark for several weeks now, following multiple reports of this nature.
"As part of this, our officers have been conducting rural patrols to try and deter and catch offenders in the act, with one such patrol leading to a theft attempt being thwarted on Sunday.
"This spot ultimately prevented hundreds and hundreds of metres of cable from being stolen, while response and neighbourhood officers also tracked down two vehicles believed to be involved before making an arrest too.
"The techniques used to extract the copper cabling in these high-value thefts are very dangerous, while they can also lead to costly power outages.
"We're therefore extremely keen to put a stop to this criminal activity, so are pleased to have made the arrests and seizures we have over the weekend and in recent weeks as part of this ongoing operation."