Stolen cars recovered and five arrested after vehicles spotted by GMP patrols
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Two stolen cars were recovered within an hour and five arrests made after the vehicles were spotted by patrols in Stockport and Bolton.
Officers from the Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit sighted a stolen Corsa on London Road in Hazel Grove at around 11:35pm on 12 June 2023.
The Corsa had been stolen in Stockport in March and had cloned plates.
TVIU officers followed covertly before engaging in a safe pursuit with four people abandoning the car on Stockport Road, Marple.
Three males were quickly arrested at the scene with a fourth detained in a residential garden after being spotted by a National Police Air Service helicopter.
Four people - two men in their 30s and two teenagers - have been charged with a range of offences including taking a vehicle without consent and are due to appear in court on 26 June.
About an hour later – early on Tuesday morning - a patrol recovered a Corsa stolen the previous evening in Bolton.
After the vehicle failed to stop for officers on Bolton Road, a pursuit took place before a safe stop.
A 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of failing to stop, dangerous driving and possession of an offensive weapon.
Officers also seized a mobile phone and a snap bag of cannabis.
Superintendent John-Paul Ruffle, from GMP’s Specialist Operations Branch, said: "Even though there has been an overall decrease in vehicle thefts over the past 12 months across Greater Manchester, there are still offenders out there that are targeting cars as an avenue to help aid them in committing crime.
"One of our main priorities is to make sure that we recover those stolen vehicles and target offenders committing these crimes with specialised units such as TVIU.
“To do this we use police tactics during pursuits, which comes out of the training we receive, to bring them to a safe conclusion.
"It is our commitment to the public that we will continue to make the roads of Greater Manchester a safer place, not just for motor vehicles but for motorcyclists and cyclists."