Police caught a “prolific” shoplifter who had attempted to evade arrest by hiding in a barbers despite being bald.
Officers grew suspicious after spotting the hairless 46-year-old queueing for a trim.
He was then escorted off the premises.
The criminal, who has not been named, later admitted to stealing 16 bottles of hair products from Boots in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, on March 25.
He was arrested by a plain-clothed and uniformed team based in Nottingham city centre as part of Operation Compass.
It was discovered the man was also breaching his electronic tag conditions.
Sgt Jonathan Pothecary, who leads the Op Compass team, said: “He really chose the wrong place to hide from police.
“This is why Op Compass is such a good team – it knows all the faces of those coming into the city to commit crime and we will continuously disrupt their day.
“Sometimes they will say ‘why don’t you leave us alone?’ and we say: ‘we will if you stop coming into Nottingham to commit crime.’
“We enforce but we also engage. Some of this crime is fuelled by drug addiction and we will offer them support but if they don’t want to take it then we will act.”
As part of Operation Compass police have made more than 130 arrests this year.
Officers in casual wear such as jeans, shorts, hoodies, and trainers, carry handcuffs in their rucksacks with their headphones hooked up to the police radio.
The disguised police can therefore observe criminals up close without being noticed.
The team is supported by uniformed officers who patrol the city in a marked van.
Last month the team snared a thief who was found carrying stolen goods.
Frankie Smart, of Grove Avenue, Arboretum, was arrested on April 4 after being spotted by officers from the Operation Compass team.
The 64-year-old was arrested and charged with two counts of theft and breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order.
He pleaded guilty to all three offences at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court the following day and was remanded into custody ahead of his sentencing at a later date.
“Nottinghamshire Police is committed to tackling antisocial behaviour in local communities and I hope this action reassures the public that we are doing all we can to reduce this type of offending,” Sgt Jono Pothecary added.
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***From The Telegraph’s news desk:***
Police caught a “prolific” shoplifter who had attempted to evade arrest by hiding in a barbers despite being bald.
Officers grew suspicious after spotting the hairless 46-year-old queueing for a trim.
He was then escorted off the premises.
The criminal, who has not been named, later admitted to stealing 16 bottles of hair products from Boots in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, on March 25.
He was arrested by a plain-clothed and uniformed team based in Nottingham city centre as part of Operation Compass.
It was discovered the man was also breaching his electronic tag conditions.
Sgt Jonathan Pothecary, who leads the Op Compass team, said: “He really chose the wrong place to hide from police.
“This is why Op Compass is such a good team – it knows all the faces of those coming into the city to commit crime and we will continuously disrupt their day.
“Sometimes they will say ‘why don’t you leave us alone?’ and we say: ‘we will if you stop coming into Nottingham to commit crime.’
“We enforce but we also engage. Some of this crime is fuelled by drug addiction and we will offer them support but if they don’t want to take it then we will act.”
As part of Operation Compass police have made more than 130 arrests this year.
Officers in casual wear such as jeans, shorts, hoodies, and trainers, carry handcuffs in their rucksacks with their headphones hooked up to the police radio.
The disguised police can therefore observe criminals up close without being noticed.
The team is supported by uniformed officers who patrol the city in a marked van.
Last month the team snared a thief who was found carrying stolen goods.
Frankie Smart, of Grove Avenue, Arboretum, was arrested on April 4 after being spotted by officers from the Operation Compass team.
The 64-year-old was arrested and charged with two counts of theft and breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order.
He pleaded guilty to all three offences at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court the following day and was remanded into custody ahead of his sentencing at a later date.
“Nottinghamshire Police is committed to tackling antisocial behaviour in local communities and I hope this action reassures the public that we are doing all we can to reduce this type of offending,” Sgt Jono Pothecary added.
**Read more: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/30/bald-shoplifter-arrested-hide-barbers-nottingham/**
Phew! Sounds like a close shave
And he was arrested for stealing hair products, what a bizarre story all over.
Am I missing something? A lot of bald men still go to the barbers – perhaps even more regularly than The Haired if they do
Maybe he just wanted to read some old magazines in peace?