A 'Mary Poppins' member of the public has been showered with praise after she used a brolly to help detain a graffiti suspect. Guided to his location by the town's CCTV team, two police officers and a Rugby BID ranger approached a man officers had wanted to speak to in connection with obscene writing daubed in locations across the town.
He was briefly detained before he wriggled free and 'ran off at great speed' onto Regent Street. But his getaway came a cropper when a woman stuck out her umbrella to stop the suspect from nipping through a gap between a delivery van and a florist's entrance.
Undeterred by the suspect’s efforts to negotiate around her, she took hold of him and 'brought his escape to a swift conclusion', a Warwickshire Police spokesperson said. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. He was interviewed before being released on police bail while enquiries continue.
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Rugby Inspector Sally Bunyard-Spiers said: "Since the first days of modern policing in the 1800s there is a proud tradition of ordinary citizens stepping up to lend a hand to Bobbies. We have a great community in Rugby and this continues to happen.
"But I have to say, in 28 years of policing, I have never known something quite like this happen. We could well believe Mary Poppins flew in to lend a hand – but of course the reality is that a member of public has done something very brave.
"We would now very much like to find out who this supercalifragilisticexpialidocious woman is so we can personally thank her. I’d also like to find out what brand that umbrella was, because by all accounts it was very well put together.
"We’re not going to give a description as we’re quite sure this woman and her friends/family will know what she did yesterday." The woman in question has been urged to email rugbysnt@warwickshire.police.uk
Anyone who knows the woman involved in the dramatic chase, which happened at around 2.30pm on Thursday, September 14, is urged to contact police via the same email.
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