Heroic second Met Police pounce on cellphone snatcher earlier than returning the cell handset to the sufferer

Two heroic plain clothes police officers pounced on a phone snatcher in central London at night before returning the device to its rightful owner.

In dramatic footage of the encounter, one of the apprehenders shouts for the thief to put his hands behind his back as he is handcuffed on the pavement.

The cornered robber protests ‘I can’t breathe’ to which the policeman responds ‘shut up mate’, adding ‘you robbed someone’s phone, this is what happens’.

Moments later more officers turn up in uniform while the phone snatcher sits defeated against a piece of scaffolding.

Police are then able to spot the victim and flag him down before returning the lost device.

Many people have taken to social media to greet the ‘excellent news’.

One person said: ‘My mobile phone was snatched from my hands in 2023 and had family photos which I lost forever. I have no sympathy for phone thieves.’

Another added: ‘Good work from the police. Credit where credit’s due – more police presence required in cities in the UK where theft runs rampant.’

Two heroic plain clothes police officers pounced on a phone snatcher in central London at night before returning the device to its rightful owner

In dramatic footage of the encounter, one of the apprehenders shouts for the thief to put his hands behind his back as he is handcuffed on the pavement

The cornered robber protests ‘I can’t breathe’ to which the policeman responds ‘shut up mate’, adding ‘you robbed someone’s phone, this is what happens’

The successful arrest comes amid a Metropolitan Police crack down on London’s phone theft epidemic.

Since October 2020, instances of the crime in the capital have been steadily increasing. Between October 2023 and September 2024, a shocking 66,528 phones were stolen in London.

But in recent months, ‘various operations’ deployed by the police force involving monitoring CCTV footage, increasing officers’ awareness and ’employing’ traffic units and surge teams have brought about a decrease in phone theft.

A 27 per cent drop was recorded in November 2024 while a 43 per cent decrease was achieved the following month.

The force has been using plain-clothed officers and phone-tracking data to gather intelligence and hunt down the smartphone snatchers.

During a week-long blitz aimed at tackling the epidemic, more than 1,000 stolen phones were seized and 230 people arrested.

In one case, officers were able to take down a gang of thieves who, over an 18-month period, were caught handling more than 5,000 stolen phones in a crime spree totaling £5.1million.

Despite such successes, however, Kaya Comer-Schwartz, London’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, stated there is ‘more to do.’

The successful arrest comes amid a Metropolitan Police crack down on London’s phone theft epidemic

She said: ‘As the criminal demand for high-value mobile phones continues to grow globally, the Mayor and I are clear that companies must go further and faster to make it harder for stolen phones to be sold on, repurposed and re-used illegally.

‘We’ll continue to work with leading mobile phone companies, the Home Secretary and Met leaders to find innovative solutions to end the scourge of mobile phone crime.

‘The success in tackling phone thefts comes after the Met moved out of special measures last month, following major improvements in many areas of service to London.

‘These include responding more quickly to emergencies and strengthening neighbourhood policing to better respond to communities’ concerns, including tackling theft and robberies.’

The Met says anyone who has lost or had a phone stolen should use the national mobile phone register so recovered handsets can be restored, via the Police National Mobile Property Register.

MailOnline has contacted the force for comment on yesterday’s successful operation.