Suspected thief arrested after riding electric scooter away from burglary

A suspected teenage thief who tried to flee the scene of a burglary on an electric scooter has been arrested by police.

At about 2.15am on Monday police received a report that a business was being broken in to on Swinburne Place in the west end of Newcastle.

Officers were immediately deployed to the area and found entry had been forced to the address and two electric scooters stolen.

They spotted a suspect nearby riding away from the area on an electric scooter and made off in pursuit.

He was unable to wheel away from police and was quickly brought into custody – with his getaway vehicle being seized.

Chief Inspector Gary Richardson, of Northumbria Police, thanked the member of the public who made the 999 call to police.

“This was a swift response by our officers who were on scene within eight minutes and found the suspect nearby,” said Ch Insp Richardson.

“It was clear a property had been broken in to and that a number of items had been stolen from within the premises.

“What followed was a short pursuit that didn’t last very long as the electric scooter was unable to wheel away fast enough.

“We hope that our swift response and arrest reassures residents that we are committed to responding to reports of burglary across our region.”

The 19-year-old suspect was arrested on suspicion of burglary and has been charged to appear at Newcastle Combined Courts on June 7.