A DRONE enabled police to arrest two people just six minutes after a Hartlepool burglary where a car and other property were taken.
The Chatham Road house was targeted on the evening of Friday, 19 June, with the police notified at 7:45pm.
Patrol cars were immediately sent out, and the drone launched.
A Cleveland Police spokesperson said: “Watching from the sky, the drone operator spotted the stolen vehicle on Oaksway and directed officers to two suspects who had just got out of the car. They were arrested within six minutes of the call coming in and on their way to police custody.”
A 38-year-old man was later charged with burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, possession of class C drugs, receiving stolen goods and driving without insurance. He appeared before Teesside Magistrates’ Court and was recalled to prison.
A 35-year-old woman arrested was charged with handling stolen goods and taking a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent and later appeared before magistrates.
Hartlepool Neighbourhoods Inspector, Adrian Dack, said: “The Neighbourhood officers work fantastically well as a team, and this incident demonstrates how they spring into position to locate offenders and arrest them quickly. The drone has again proven to be an extremely valuable tool to locate suspects by acting as our eye in the sky, enabling us to capture offenders quickly.”
