Police have arrested four men and seized seven suspected stolen vehicles after stopping a car in Birmingham.
Officer received a call from a man who said his Hyundai i20 vehicle had been stolen last night from a hotel car park.
His car had a tracking device and officers from the Hodge Hill neighbourhood team were able to locate the vehicle this afternoon as it was in convoy with a suspected stolen red Seat Leon.
Both cars were driven into a car park in Ralph Road, Saltley but the Seat Leon drove back out after spotting our officers. Police then stopped the vehicle in Alum Rock Road and arrested four men inside the vehicle.
The men, aged 29, 23 and two aged 19, were taken into custody on suspicion of stealing motor vehicles.
Inside the vehicle police discovered keys to six more suspected stolen vehicles parked in Ralph Road and officers also recovered 23 stolen number plates.
Inspector Shameem Ahmed, neighbourhood policing manager at Birmingham East NPU, said: “This was great work by our team of officers from the Hodge Hill neighbourhood team.
We have seized seven suspected stolen vehicles and made four arrests in the process. We would appeal for anyone who may have any information to please contact us quoting log number 1535 of 22 January.”
Vehicle theft is a force priority for us. We understand the anger and frustration of having your car or van broken into, or returning to find your vehicle stolen.
We’re determined to catch the criminals and gangs who are causing people pain.
That is why West Midlands Police is expanding the team tackling vehicle crime as we continue to target suspected car criminals across the region.
Our specialist Vehicle Crime Taskforce has already made over 100 arrests and recovered scores of stolen vehicles after launching in September.
We’re now boosting the team’s capabilities meaning 35 officers and staff will be primarily involved in catching car criminals, shutting down chop shops and returning stolen vehicles to their rightful owner.