It takes a thief to catch a thief, they say – so presumably to catch a bike thief, you’d be well advised to steal a bike. That’s pretty much the approach adopted by the Dutch policeman in this video, as we see him borrow a bike from a passer-by and then chase down a suspect on it.
The video was uploaded to the Rotterdam-Rijnmond Police Department’s Facebook page this week. We see two officers who are on the trail of a pair of bike thieves arrive in their squad car. They get out and while one of the suspects is caught almost straight away, the other gets away. Fortunately, a passer-by lends one of the policemen his bike, allowing him to continue his search and successfully track the suspect down.
A spokesperson for the police said: "Bicycle theft unfortunately too often takes place. In the absence of witnesses and/or CCTV it can be very difficult to find the perpetrator."
In this particular case, police were able to arrest a 22-year-old man who has been given 24 hours of community service for stealing a bike, while a 19-year-old man is due to be sentenced at a later date.
There are few vehicles that are off limits to Dutch police once they’re on the tail of a bike thief. In 2012 Breukelen police requisitioned a tractor to catch three bike thieves who had escaped on foot into a field.




















5 thoughts on “Video: Policeman borrows bike to chase down bike thief”
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B-)
Wish they were that keen in
Wish they were that keen in this country! Mind that thief was quite compliant wasnt he!? Maybe the cops have guns out there
pmr wrote:Wish they were that
Last time I called the Police over bikes thieves, I got a helicopter. Keen enough. B-)
Quote:
Last time I called the
Last time I called the police over bike thieves they asked me ‘does it look like they’ve touched anything metal?’, I said I have no idea so no one turned up.
The cops in the Netherlands
The cops in the Netherlands do carry guns, but use is so restricted that basically they’re not allowed to shoot until they’re in their coffin
This is good stuff though!