This is the moment police find a burglar hiding under a pile of coats in a bid to avoid getting caught. Officers heard a rustling sound as they searched a house in Rufford Close, Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, on October 30 last year.
The sound led them to the pile of coats where they found Carl Thomas, 58, trying to hide. Police had been searching for Thomas after he burgled a property and tried to break into another. Det Sgt Adam Penn from Nottinghamshire Police said: “Carl Thomas’s discovery showcased the game of cat and mouse our officers are often forced to play with criminals.
“Even when we’d managed to track down his location – to the very room he was in – Thomas still tried his best to hide under a pile of coats.
“Despite his best efforts though, his hiding place was quickly rumbled and we were ultimately able to charge him with a series of offences, including burglary.”
Nottinghamshire Police said after Thomas, of Montague Road, Hucknall, was pulled out of the pile, he was arrested on suspicion of burglary.
An officer can be heard telling him to “get out now” and show police his hands.
The video shows Thomas telling officers he doesn’t “do burglaries” after being pulled to his feet by officers.
But he stole a handbag in a break at another house in the town on October 3 and CCTV showed him trying to use a stolen bankcard from the bag to buy from a shop.
Thomas also tried breaking into a garage at another property in Hucknall on September 14, according to Nottinghamshire Police.
Officers identified Thomas from CCTV footage from those break-ins, leading to his being found under the clothes pile.
Thomas pleaded guilty to burglary, attempted burglary and fraud by false representation at Nottingham Crown Court in January.
He was sentenced to 876 days – about two years and four months – at the same court last Friday (March 20).
Det Sgt Penn said: “We were really pleased to see the strength of our case prompt Thomas to admit what he’d done, while it was great to see him subsequently jailed for his actions too.”
