March 29, 2021 4.31 pm This story is over 36 months old

Police catch alleged orange cement mixer thief within the hour

Police praised the swift acting caller who reported it
Police found the orange cement mixer abandoned in the middle of the road in Gedney Hill. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police

Police caught and arrested a 39-year-old man on suspicion of theft within an hour of someone reporting seeing men attempting to load an orange cement mixer into a van in Gedney Hill.

Lincolnshire Police received a call about the incident at 10.18pm on Friday, March 26 by a person who challenged the men about what they were doing. The men fled the scene, but the cement mixer fell off the back of the van.

Within five minutes of the call, police were sent to the scene and by 10.33pm an officer reported intelligence of a van he had seen on route. Just three minutes later, officers were with the mixer which they found abandoned in the middle of the road.

By 10.37pm police had made contact with the owners of the mixer and two minutes later they found the van. Just eight minutes after that a 39-year-old man from Spalding was arrested on suspicion of attempted theft.

The orange cement mixer was returned to its rightful place by 11.30pm that same evening and police said the morale of the story is to “report your suspicions, we will do what we can from there”.

Spalding Inspector Nick Waters said: “Our sincere thanks go to the member of the public who acted swiftly in initiating this timeline of events that ended in the safe return of the orange mixer.”