Mr X
2006-09-19 11:54:01 UTC
Mob chased crooks as cops did nothing
By ROBIN PERRIE
September 19, 2006
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006430356,00.html
VIGILANTE neighbours tailed two burglars for a mile and stopped a train
to catch them - after cops failed to answer FOUR 999 calls.
The villains, a man and a woman, had posed as window cleaners and
pinched cash from an 88-year-old woman's home.
But they were spotted in the same street in Scunthorpe, Lincs, and
residents made a flurry of calls to police.
When officers did not turn up FOUR brave neighbours decided to follow
the suspects.
At the town's railway station, the thieves - in their 20s and linked to
two other thefts from the elderly in the area - got on an express bound
for Manchester Airport.
So the crimebusters asked the driver to stay put while two of them
sprinted 300 yards to the police station.
By the time the cops arrived the man had ran off across tracks, but the
woman was arrested.
One of the residents, Adrian Herron, 30, said: "Ordinary people
shouldn't have to chase round town and hold up trains, but we had no
choice. It was either that or let the pair go scot free, and we weren't
having that."
He said they were shocked cops did not turn up right away.
He said: "As we went through town we phoned them to describe the couple
and say what they were wearing."
Fellow resident Clyne Ellis, 72, said: "I feel the police let us all
down."
Det Chief Inspector Chris Baker of Humberside Police yesterday
apologised for the delay.
He said: "Our response should have been much faster. The residents
deserve some praise."
The woman, aged 21, was bailed by police after questioning on suspicion
of burglary. The man is still at large.
========================================================================
You just couldn't make it up!
"He said they were shocked cops did not turn up right away" - Yes
ordinary citizens are often shocked when they realise the reality of
policing.
By ROBIN PERRIE
September 19, 2006
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006430356,00.html
VIGILANTE neighbours tailed two burglars for a mile and stopped a train
to catch them - after cops failed to answer FOUR 999 calls.
The villains, a man and a woman, had posed as window cleaners and
pinched cash from an 88-year-old woman's home.
But they were spotted in the same street in Scunthorpe, Lincs, and
residents made a flurry of calls to police.
When officers did not turn up FOUR brave neighbours decided to follow
the suspects.
At the town's railway station, the thieves - in their 20s and linked to
two other thefts from the elderly in the area - got on an express bound
for Manchester Airport.
So the crimebusters asked the driver to stay put while two of them
sprinted 300 yards to the police station.
By the time the cops arrived the man had ran off across tracks, but the
woman was arrested.
One of the residents, Adrian Herron, 30, said: "Ordinary people
shouldn't have to chase round town and hold up trains, but we had no
choice. It was either that or let the pair go scot free, and we weren't
having that."
He said they were shocked cops did not turn up right away.
He said: "As we went through town we phoned them to describe the couple
and say what they were wearing."
Fellow resident Clyne Ellis, 72, said: "I feel the police let us all
down."
Det Chief Inspector Chris Baker of Humberside Police yesterday
apologised for the delay.
He said: "Our response should have been much faster. The residents
deserve some praise."
The woman, aged 21, was bailed by police after questioning on suspicion
of burglary. The man is still at large.
========================================================================
You just couldn't make it up!
"He said they were shocked cops did not turn up right away" - Yes
ordinary citizens are often shocked when they realise the reality of
policing.
--
Mr X
Mr X