North Yorkshire Police have recovered four stolen vehicles over the past two days thanks to its proactive policing teams.
On the morning of 15 January 2018, officers received a report that flat-bed truck had been stolen from Nelson in Lancashire and the vehicle’s tracker showed it to be in the Harrogate area.
Officers located the vehicle at a service station on Harrogate Road in Ripon where it was intercepted and where it became apparent that it was in company of another flat-bed truck carrying a car.
Officers also stopped the second truck and on further examination of all three vehicles, they were found to be using false number plates.
The second truck had been reported stolen from Greater Manchester and the Vauxhall Astra it was carrying was reported stolen from the Cleveland area.
Both drivers were arrested at the scene. They include a man aged 27, from North Shields who was arrested on suspicion of theft, going equipped for theft and driving while disqualified, and a 33-year-old man from Wallsend, arrested on suspicion of theft and driving while disqualified. They have been released while under investigation.
In a separate incident, on the night of 16 January 2018, information was passed on from West Yorkshire Police that a vehicle suspected of being on false number plates was heading north into North Yorkshire on the A1.
The black Audi S5 was located travelling along the A1 by North Yorkshire Police officers who followed it until bringing it to a stop on near Ripon. The car was found to have been stolen from Leeds during a so-called 2 in 1 burglary when suspects break into a house to steal the car keys and the car on the drive.
The driver, a 34-year-old man from Bradford, was arrested on suspicion of burglary and theft. He was passed into the custody of West Yorkshire Police.
Chief Inspector Fiona Willey, of North Yorkshire Police’s Proactive Policing Unit, said: “These two cases are further evidence that travelling criminals are not welcome in North Yorkshire and we’ll do everything we can to intercept those who think they can use our roads to carry on their criminal lifestyle.”
