An alleged prolific thief and burglar has been caught with the help of a WhatsApp group of Westside managers following a month-long crime spree.
The offender is believed to have targeted numerous bars and restaurants on Broad Street and Brindleyplace over the past few weeks, either forcing doors to break into premises or sneaking inside and stealing staff property, drink bottles and food.
His brazen crimewave finally came to an end on Sunday 24 September when members of the Manager’s Watch scheme operating via WhatsApp combined to lead to his arrest by police.
It is understood that a man is now due to appear in court on 24 October charged with burglary offences.
Steve Emmison, manager of Velvet Music Rooms in Broad Street, which has itself been targeted, said: “The WhatsApp group was set up in 2019 involving all the bars on Broad Street and Brindleyplace.
“It enables us to help other venues, so if one premises throws someone out, or a customer runs up a big tab and leaves without paying, then you can notify everyone else.”
Westside senior street warden Peter Willis said that on the day of his arrest, The Malt House in King Edwards Road had posted a photo on the WhatsApp group of a man suspected of carrying out a theft.
All Bar One in Brindleyplace then posted that the same man had just been removed from their premises, which then resulted in the suspect being detained by staff from The Soloman Cutler in Broad Street shortly afterwards.
Police were then notified to arrest him.
Mr Willis said: “There has been a lot of thefts of staff bags, bottles, restaurant food, over the past month or so. The offender has been absolutely prolific, business after business were reporting thefts.
“He has been stealing with impunity and acting aggressively when challenged.
“The WhatsApp managers’ group, representing many of the businesses in the Westside area, made a coordinated effort to gain evidence against this man through CCTV, keep police and each other informed, and then finally ensure he was arrested.
“By sharing information through this managers’ group, we knew the area was being targeted.”
Mr Emmison said Velvet Music Rooms had been targeted less than a week before the arrest.
He added: “We hadn’t opened, but we caught him on camera trying to break through a side door. We could see that he was carrying a knife or a screwdriver because he was trying to jemmy the door open. From us, he went somewhere else and stole staff belongings.
“He was trying to break into bars when they were closed or walking inside as they were setting up and just going into staff areas and stealing belongings or taking drinks from the bar.
“He was very much preying on businesses on Westside. He has pretty much tried every single bar on Broad Street.”
Westside BID general manager Mike Olley said: “This arrest clearly demonstrates the importance and effectiveness of our venues’ managers coming together on WhatsApp to safeguard their premises and staff by sharing vital information.”
