Passers-by help police chase down suspected bike thief in Lancashire

Police in Lancashire have applauded members of the public who helped them chase down a suspected bike thief in Fleetwood.

In a post on Facebook, Fleetwood Area Police said that officers from the Wyre Neighbourhood Policing Team and Taskforce who were on a routine patrol were flagged down on Tuesday by a driver who alerted them to a man he had seen taking a bike from a garden in the town.

The suspect tried to make off, heading to the Mount, which overlooks the town’s esplanade, then onto the Promenade.

Other members of the public then joined officers on foot in their pursuit of the man, and he was subsequently detained and arrested.

The man, Grant Sandiford, aged 37 and from Bold Street in Fleetwood, was subsequently charged with theft of a pedal cycle, as well as possessing class A drugs, assault, criminal damage, and assault of police officers.

In the Facebook post, police thanked “all those involved in this incident who gave updates of the male’s location and assisted officers.”

They added: “Without the public’s support here the male may well have gone undetected.”

Sandiford has been remanded in custody to appear before Blackpool Magistrates’ Court.

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