The moment a group of alleged thieves dressed as workers try to steal underground cables has been caught on camera.
In the clip, shared by West Midlands Police, armed officers and their dogs can be seen swarming a manhole in Birmingham city centre.
Inside the tunnel were three men who were thought to be trying to take off with cables. They were quickly arrested at the scene.
Members of the public had spotted the trio, who were wearing high-vis overalls, and alerted police who were nearby.
And it wasn’t just luck that the officers were about – the manhole the apparent thieves targeted was just yards from a police station.
The alleged attempted theft unfolded on Tuesday night on Great Charles Queensway.
Footage of the arrests shows police shouting for the gang to ‘come up now’ as they hover over the entrance. Dog handlers and their barking hounds are nearby, too.
One of the men is then seen slowly climbing the ladder before an officer shouts: ‘Police with a dog! Come out now or the dog’s coming in!’
As the alleged thief comes up, another officer says: ‘Good evening.’
Three men were arrested and a van loaded with cables was seized.
On Wednesday, West Midlands Police said in a statement: ‘This is the moment we arrested a gang of suspected underground cable thieves in Birmingham city centre.
‘Firearms officers who were patrolling nearby were flagged down by members of the public as a group of men were trying to steal cables on Great Charles Queensway at around 7.30pm yesterday.
‘Two men were arrested on suspicion of theft and a van carrying cables was recovered.
‘We were made aware of that a third suspect was underground, and officers, with the help of Police Dog Riot encouraged him to climb up the ladder and onto the street, where he was also arrested on suspicion of theft.
‘Three men, aged 48, 45 and 37, remain in custody today.’
Det Supt Dave Sproson, of Birmingham Police, added: ‘This was a fantastic response from our firearms, dogs and Birmingham officers, in bringing three suspects into custody quickly.’
