Moment suspected 14-year-old phone thief arrested in Met Police crackdown

Dramatic footage shows the moment a 14-year-old boy was detained on suspicion of attempted phone theft in south London.

The suspected phone snatcher was pursued by undercover police after he was spotted attempting to rob a woman near Tower Bridge.

Officers in undercover vehicles and on motorbikes chased the suspect through the streets of Bermondsey, weaving between traffic to track down and arrest the young boy.

After a five-minute pursuit, officers believed they had lost the suspect. However, after being directed by a member of the public on the direction the boy had gone in, an officer on a motorbike was able to lead the chase to find the boy.

A 14-year-old boy was detained by police in Bermondsey

The Standard

The 14-year-old was detained by officers

The Standard

Footage shows the moment the young man was brought to a halt, before being detained on the ground by undercover police officers.

Though no devices were found on the 14-year-old, officers believed they had enough evidence to detain the boy for further questioning.

Sergeant Ben Agguirre, who leads the operation, said “young individuals” were the primary offenders involved in phone snatch crimes at street level.

Young people are frequently exploited and made to ride the e-bikes and commit thefts in exchange for money.

“There are young people riding these e-bikes, because they’re fast and they’re probably quite exciting for young people. But ultimately they’re illegal in many, many cases and they’re putting themselves and the public at risk,” explains Sgt Agguirre.

Undercover officers explained to the Standard that the force is not naive to the fact that phone thieves are often pawns in a much larger game.

Sgt Agguirre said, “We’re aware that there [are] probably organised crime groups which are controlling this sort of market and we’re working really hard using all the sort of intelligence we can to try and tackle both the people that are committing these offences out on the street and the people that are maybe controlling them.”

Phone theft has been a major concern for Londoners in recent years, with commuters and tourists frequently targeted by thieves on e-bikes.

But the Met Police believes it is winning the battle, with phone thefts falling across the capital. The force has made 223 arrests between April and September with 193 vehicle seizures.

The Met Police has identified Waterloo as one of the hotspots for theft-snatch offences, largely because of tourist and commuter footfall.

Targeted operations like Catchclaw have enabled officers to drive the crime down by 22% in Waterloo alone, while phone theft has reduced by 15.6% in London generally.

In addition to reductions, Operation Catchclaw has seen an increase in seizure of weapons. A total of 676 firearms and 2, 874 knives were taken off the street last year by the Met Police.

“Obviously when the teams go out and about, if they’re making an intervention on somebody who’s out committing offences of this kind, then they often do have a weapon on them,” Sgt Agguirre said.

“This means not only are you catching somebody who’s causing particular harm to the public, you’re also stopping theft and robbery offences.”

Operation Catchclaw sees officers combine CCTV, live facial recognition, forensics, and other policing tactics to build a bigger picture of the people committing the crimes.

A man was stopped after being identified as a suspected drug dealer

The Standard

Specialist interceptor teams are also trained to drive alongside drones to seek out criminals on London’s streets.

One officer revealed how the force often finds young teenagers carrying aluminium foil - a tell-tale sign that they intend on carrying out phone theft. The foil is used to wrap the phone and block signal, making it near impossible to trace.

The units deployed for Operation Catchclaw are trained in Tactical Pursuit and Containment, allowing them to safely box in cars and chase down suspects.

However, officers also confront crime as and when it arises.

The Standard witnessed officers stop a car which had been identified by local units as suspicious.

The car and driver had been reported to local police on several occasions for frequenting local council estates and supplying drugs to users.

The driver was searched, detained, and taken to the police station for a more thorough search. His vehicle was also seized.