Police track suspected thieves back to a Newcastle hotel room

On Sunday night (March 5), officers received intelligence that a wanted man had been spotted driving around Gateshead in a stolen car.

After carrying out checks on the Volkswagen Golf, police were deployed to the area and carried out a wide search after learning the fugitive may be attempted to lay low in a nearby hotel.

Officers came across the suspected stolen car, which was parked outside of a hotel in the Kingston Park area.

Northumbria Police’s Firearm Support Unit (FSU) and Motor Patrols Department blocked the vehicle before entering the hotel to the room where the suspect had checked in.

Officers located two men, aged 22 and 23, and arrested them both on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle.

As they searched the hotel room, police seized keys for the suspected stolen car and recovered a large machete that had been stashed inside the vehicle.

Chief Inspector Ian Cutty, of Northumbria Police, has praised officers for their work in locating and arresting the suspects.

He said: “This was an absolutely outstanding piece of work by everyone involved.

“Upon receiving information about the potential movements of a man who was wanted in connection with a number of offences, we were able to take decisive action and scoured the area in the belief that he had checked into a local hotel.

“It was then only a matter of time before we found the vehicle and the hotel, and it’s safe to say the two occupants had hoped for a far more relaxing night as our officers turned up at their door.

“Both suspects remain in police custody and will be interviewed in connection with a range of offences. This is a brilliant outcome made possible thanks to the diligence and quick actions of those officers involved.

“We are committed to taking swift and robust action against anybody who commits crime in Northumbria, and this is an excellent example of the lengths we will go to in order to pursue perpetrators.”