Bungling ‘phone thief’ jumps into shallow pond to try and flee police

A suspected mobile phone thief jumped into a pond when he was fleeing the Metropolitan Police before the force arrested him and seized six phones.

Officers had tried to pull over the suspect, who was riding a high-powered e-bike, after his behaviour raised suspicion, the force said.

CCTV and body cam footage of the dramatic chase from last month shows him running into a nearby park and jumping into a shallow pond before being arrested.

The force then recovered six suspected stolen phones he had discarded in the water, which were wrapped in foil - a tactic used by thieves to block signals and hinder tracking.

The 21-year-old suspect has been released on police bail pending further enquiries.

More than 700 people were arrested by the Met Police last month, and hundreds of suspected stolen mobile phones were seized during its largest-ever crackdown on phone theft.

Data released on Thursday revealed that there were 3,963 mobile phone theft and robbery offences in London in the lowest August level since 2022.

Between January and August this year, there were 39,793 offences, down from 49,136 in the same period last year. In Westminster, offences have fallen by nearly 50 per cent, police added.

Commander Andy Featherstone, the Met’s lead for tackling phone theft, said: “Phone theft offences are now at a four-year low because of the Met’s relentless campaign to crack down on these criminals.

“This was our biggest operation yet, with officers targeting every stage of the organised criminal chain, including street thieves, handlers and exporters.”

The force said part of the decline was due to cooperation with the technology industry to make stolen phones harder to sell and reuse.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “The tide is definitely turning on mobile phone crime in London with 16,000 fewer mobile phones stolen in the past year and neighbourhood crime falling further too.

“Record funding from City Hall is empowering the Met to go after every single part of the £50million-a-year trade in stolen phones. New Met Police drones and Sur-Ron bikes are allowing the police to take the fight directly to the street robbers, while street vendor ‘middlemen’ who unlock stolen devices or break them up for parts are being shut down, and organised gang leaders responsible for smuggling stolen phones out of the country are being brought to book.”

Sarah Jones, the minister for policing and crime, said: “I welcome the excellent results from the Met and other forces involved in Operation Reckoning, which demonstrates the tough action and clear resolve of the police to clamp down on phone theft.

“We are supporting that work by bringing in new powers for police to act much more swiftly where stolen goods have been electronically located and search properties without delay in securing a warrant.

“We have also put more than 3,800 officers back into neighbourhood roles. Street theft of phones in London is down 21 per cent to August 2026 when compared to the previous year and we continue our work with policing and phone companies on what more can be done to dismantle this criminal business model for good.”