Police make three swift arrests after pursuit from York ends near Selby

Three men were pursued, arrested and charged by police within hours of a high-value shoplifting offence at a York shopping park.

Just after 2pm on Saturday (18 February), security guards spotted the suspects leaving a store at Monks Cross.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “Using intelligence and monitoring systems, North Yorkshire Police’s force control room and the specialist operations team were able to track down the suspects as they made off in a silver Audi saloon car on the A19 towards Selby.”

At 2.46pm, the car was sighted heading east on the A63 at Monk Fryston.

Fifteen minutes later it stopped on Common Lane in Burn, and three men ran off.

Two were quickly arrested. The third was spotted by the police helicopter at 3.30pm, lying down to try to avoid detection.

The operation involved officers from the roads policing group, the firearms support unit and the dog unit, assisted by the force control room.

Following questioning, two of the men were charged and remanded into custody to appear at York Magistrates’ Court on Monday (20 February).

• A 36-year-old man from Salford was charged with theft from a shop and using threatening words with intent to cause fear of or provoke unlawful violence.

• A 33-year-old man from Salford was charged with theft from a shop, driving while disqualified, and driving without insurance.

A 26-year-old man from Rochdale was charged with theft from a shop. He was released on conditional bail to appear at York Magistrates’ Court on 6 March.