Two men arrested following high value shoplifting offence in Northwich

Officers from Cheshire Police have arrested two men following a high value shoplifting incident in Northwich.

Shortly after 8.40pm on Tuesday 13 February, police were called to reports of an attempted shoplifting offence at a supermarket on Manchester Road.

The caller reported that two men had attempted to steal more than £850 worth of stock from the store but fled empty handed after security staff intervened.

As they fled the scene, the men threw items at staff and customers before driving off in an Audi A3 towards Manchester.

Despite the attack, staff at the store managed to get the registration number for the car and officers from the Roads and Crime unit were alerted to the incident.

A short time later, at around 9.30pm, officers spotted a car matching the description of the vehicle involved on the A556 near Knutsford.

Police stopped the car on Plumley Moor Road, Lower Peover, and conducted a search of the vehicle they discovered more than £1450 worth of food and alcohol which is also believed to have been stolen from another supermarket in Northwich.

The driver and passenger from the vehicle were both arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted theft, going equipped for theft, and theft.

The 33-year-old from Luton and the 22-year-old from Leigh, both remain in police custody at this time. 

The 33-year-old was also arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A drugs.

PC Dan Parker said:

“This is a fantastic result and I’d like to thank the staff at the Supermarket for their quick-thinking actions.

“As a result of the information they provided, we were quickly able to locate the vehicle involved and two men have been arrested. In addition, we were also able to recover almost £1,500 worth of items which area also believed to have been stolen.”