Police officer borrows villager's bicycle to catch fleeing suspect

A POLICE officer borrowed a cyclist’s bike to chase a fleeing suspect who was wanted in connection with a number of burglaries.

The drama unfolded after a Lyndhurst officer spotted a vehicle containing three suspicious men while patrolling Bransgore on Good Friday afternoon.

Two of the trio ran from the vehicle as the officer carried out checks which found one of them was wanted in relation to burglaries.

Arriving at the scene a short time later, acting Sgt Wood borrowed a mountain bike from a member of the public and used this to search the area where one of the men was last seen.

The man was soon found but ran off, with acting Sgt Wood cycling after him.

A post on the New Milton Cops Facebook page that night said: “Unfortunately for him, A/PS Wood was far quicker on the bike and he was quickly stopped, arrested and is now in police custody awaiting interview. The bicycle was returned to its owner as promised.”

The post added that the other man who ran from the car was not found but would be “spoken to in due course”.

Officers also seized the car after it was found to not have a valid insurance policy, in addition to other matters.