Specialist search training helped one officer find burglar suspect

He suggested removing the metal cover from a fireplace, even though it was no more than 2 feet by 18 inches wide.

The Northern Echo

Darlington, U.K. — Police foiled a suspected burglar who hid himself in a chimney breast to escape arrest.

Acting on a tip-off, officers visited a house in Haughton Road, Darlington, at lunchtime on Monday last week, looking for a man wanted in connection with a recent burglary.

They made a thorough search of the house but, at first, found no trace of him.

Then one of the officers, who has undergone specialist search training, suggested removing a black metal cover from a fireplace, even though it was no more than about two feet by 18 inches wide.

Having taken it off, they found the suspect wedged into the space in the chimney breast.

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Theman, aged 39, who is from the Haughton Road area, but not the house he was found in, was interviewed and released on police bail until November 12.

Copyright 2012 Newsquest Ltd.