Man arrested after printer ink cartridges worth over £1,200 stolen from Hemel supermarket

A man was arrested and suspected stolen goods were seized after items were stolen from a supermarket in Hemel Hempstead.

The 27-year-old man from Hemel Hempstead was arrested on suspicion of theft and has since been released under investigation while detectives continue their enquiries.

The arrest came after printer ink cartridges worth more than £1,200 and alcohol worth more than £200 were stolen from Sainsbury’s in Woodhall Farm on the afternoon of Thursday, November 26.

After staff reported the incident, officers from the borough’s intervention team located a vehicle on Three Cherry Trees Lane that they believed to be involved in the offence.

The suspect was also located and detained at the same time.

They seized the car – a Ford Mondeo – as part of the investigation, under Section 19 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

After access was gained to the vehicle, officers recovered several suspected stolen items from inside.

Detective Constable Katie Diskaya, who is investigating, said: “We had to use significant force to gain entry to the deadlocked vehicle, where we found a number of items of interest to the investigation.

"I want this case to serve as a warning that we will always take shoplifting seriously.

"We are not afraid to go to great lengths to recover suspected stolen property while disrupting criminality.”

If you have any information about the offence but you have not yet spoken to police, you can email DC Diskaya at [email protected], report information online or call 101.