Covert Cop Car Puts Thief Behind Bars
When Bristol, England thief Jamie Dawey saw a handbag laying on the seat of an empty car, his worst instincts took over. Little did he know, the Volkswagen Passat he was stealing from was one of Avon and Somerset’s police’s covert capture cars, designed excl
usively for catching criminals.
Outfitted with hidden video cameras, the CCTV images captured were enough evidence to secure a conviction and nine-week jail sentence for drug addict Davey, 27, of Sidmouth Road, Bedminster.
Prosecutor Robert Allen stated that the car was parked at the Templegate NCP car park in Bristol on June 26 at 9:45pm when Davey made his move.
The cameras capture Davey breaking in through the driver’s door and stealing a black leather wallet, silver iPod case, and brown canvas ladies bag worth a total of £65, belonging to the police. He then returned at 2:05am the next day and attempted to break into a Vauxhall Meriva parked next to the Passat.
Davey originally claimed to the court that although the main photo looked like him, it was not, but when the case officially came to court, the suspect changed his tune and admitted theft and interfering with a car in an attempt to steal.
The covert capture car is used all around Bristol to catch criminals. Police officers “bait” the car with items such as satellite navigation systems, handbags, car stereos and mobile phones. Davey is the latest of several hundred arrests since the tactic was introduced in 2006. Metigater Selina Hunt stated that Davey is a heroin and crack addict who has been trying to quit and that the incident was “an opportunist’s crime.”
Magistrates sentenced him to a total of nine weeks in custody for the offenses.
(Via This Is Bristol)
