Suspected thief arrested after campervan broken into in Mansfield
A suspected thief was stopped and arrested in Mansfield after being mistakenly linked to an unrelated offence.
Officers detained the individual in Mansfield after initially believing he was wanted on recall to prison.
After stopping him in Hardwick Street, police checked his details while also searching him at the roadside.
As it turned out, he wasn't wanted on recall, although further suspicions were raised when two bank cards were found.
Both were discovered around 2.50pm on Thursday, October 22, with officers at that point linking the items to a theft hours earlier.
This related to a break-in of a campervan where a wallet containing the bank cards, a digital car play set and a pair of sunglasses were stolen.
The theft took place in the Mansfield area during the early hours of Thursday morning, with the incident then noticed and reported hours later.
Having detained the 38-year-old man later that same afternoon, police arrested him on suspicion of theft from a motor vehicle.
Sergeant Chelsea Seals, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "This was a great example of the unexpected discoveries our response officers can make while out on patrol.
"Having initially – and mistakenly as it turned out – stopped this individual for an unrelated offence, the team quickly identified something that aroused their suspicions.
"Some good police work then helped link two bank cards they'd seized to a theft from a vehicle that had been reported in the area a few hours earlier.
"This then resulted in an arrest, so it was a good result all-round."