Police across Bath and the surrounding areas have arrested more than 40 people in the past 30 days of concentrated action against serious acquisitive crime – burglary, robbery and theft of and from motor vehicles.
As well as catching offenders, Operation Relentless officers have carried out warrants, seized drugs and recovered large amounts of stolen property worth tens of thousands of pounds.
On Friday, 12th October, officers arrested a man shortly after a woman reported her iPhone and purse stolen from a club on the Lower Bristol. Using the phone’s tracker system they followed its progress through the city centre and arrested the man, in possession of the phone and purse.
Last week, working with Wiltshire police, two men in a van were stopped and checked near Chippenham and found in possession of suspected stolen goods – only hours after two burglaries had been reported in Bath. The men were charged and property including expensive laptops and iPods was seized.
Operations Inspector Scott Talbert said: “Everyone on the district has worked hard to achieve some fantastic results, and as a direct result there are far fewer victims of serious acquisitive crime in Bath and North east Somerset.”
Other success include the arrest of a man suspected of three burglaries at the University of Bath; a man arrested for money laundering after being found in possession of a large amount of cash that he could not account for; and six operations on the roads that have yielded arrests for motoring offences including drink and drug driving and driving without insurance.
Insp Talbert said: “The number of arrests will rise as Operation Relentless continues. We’ll be carrying out more warrants, stop-searches of people and vehicles and catching more criminals – helping you feel safe in Avon and Somerset.“
