Met police comissioner nabs taxi 'thief'

BRITAIN'S most senior police officer broke off from a radio interview to make an arrest in north London.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe jumped into a police car to pursue a suspect after the driver complained his passengers refused to pay the fare and had stolen cash from him, the BBC reported.

Sir Bernard, who was taking part in a pre-recorded interview with BBC London 94.9 Drivetime presenter Eddie Nestor near Bruce Grove station in Tottenham, north London on the issue of budget cuts, jumped into the car in pursuit and later arrested a suspect.

In a recording of the interview, Sir Bernard can be heard asking the driver if he knows where the suspect is, adding: "I'm going to go with you."

Sir Bernard later apprehended a teenager, Scotland Yard said.

His force said in a tweet: "Commissioner Hogan-Howe arrested a 19yo man on suspicion of theft this morning after being flagged down by local taxi driver."

The driver, who gave his name as Mohammed, told the BBC a passenger took £20 from his dashboard before running away.

He said: "When I see the police, I ask the police 'please can you stop the guys?"

He said he was not aware who the officer who came to his aid was, but described him as a "very good, very kind" man.

It is understood the Commissioner's bodyguard, who also got into the car with Sir Bernard, arrested another suspect nearby, the BBC reported.

It is not the first time Sir Bernard has gone back to his "bobby" roots.

In 2006, when he was chief constable of Merseyside Police, he chased and arrested a suspected drink driver in Liverpool.

It means Sir Bernard has made an arrest in every rank he has held since becoming an officer in 1979, Scotland Yard said.

By Press Association reporters