WATCH: Phone thieves arrested within minutes of targeting store in the West End

Met officers arrested three men within minutes of a burglary at a phone shop in the West End.

We were called at 19:17hrs on Thursday, 24 July to reports of a burglary at the O2 store in Tottenham Court Road.

Officers responded quickly and detained the suspects nearby in Cranleigh Street. They were arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary and taken into custody where they remain.

The men, aged 25, 24 and 18, reportedly entered the store wearing balaclavas and were reported to have stolen around 100 iPhones and a number of Apple Watches with an estimated value of £100,000.

These were recovered from a car stopped by officers. A large machete was also found.

Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart, responsible for policing in Camden, said:

"We know people are concerned about crime in the West End and these arrests are just one example of the hard work officers are doing every day to proactively target offenders and make the area safer.

"We're working closely with businesses to focus on tackling the crimes that cause a misery to the lives of their staff, as well as residents and visitors.

"Across London we’re arresting 1,000s more criminals each month, neighbourhood crime is down 19 per cent and we’ve solved 163 per cent more shoplifting cases this year.

"Through precise community crimefighting we will continue to focus our resources and bear down on prolific offenders and criminal gangs."

Last month the Met arrested 10 men as part of a separate investigation into robberies at phone shops in London and across the south of England.

Flying Squad detectives worked to identify an organised crime group believed to be behind 13 robberies between February and early June.

The Met’s relentless focus on driving down crimes that matter most to the public in first six weeks of this financial year has seen promising reductions in a number of crime types compared to the same period last year across London:

• Knife crime - down by 18.1 per cent

• Residential burglary - down by 17.7 per cent

• Theft from the person – down by 15.6 per cent

• Personal robbery - down by 12.8 per cent

• Shoplifting – solved 163 per cent more cases this year than in the same period as last year

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