Mansfield toy shop thief tracked and arrested after stealing lego sets
A thief was tracked by a council CCTV operator and arrested just over half an hour after stealing lego sets from a Mansfield toy shop.
David Ward, aged 44, took two Lego sets from Smyths Toys at 3.09pm on Saturday 10 October.
By 3.42pm, he had been arrested at Mansfield train station after a council CCTV operator relayed his movements to officers.
Ward admitted he had stolen the items, worth around £100, in order to sell them on.
Appearing at Nottingham Magistrates' Court on Monday 12 October, he pleaded guilty to theft.
He also pleaded guilty to another theft after stealing washing tablets from a shop in Kirkby-in-Ashfield on 13 September.
Ward, of no fixed address, was jailed for 16 weeks.
Sergeant Catherine Darby, of the town centre policing team, said: "When we say we've been working hard with local partners to combat this issue, this is exactly the kind of thing we mean - multiple people working as a team to bring an offender to justice.
"In this case, that means the staff in the shop reporting and evidencing the crime so quickly, the CCTV operator for following the target and providing updates on his location, and finally the officers who dealt with and processed this individual so quickly."