This is the dramatic moment a luxury watch thief is tackled to the ground after he mistakenly targeted a pair of undercover cops posing as a wealthy couple in London.
The Met Police officers were seen walking arm in arm along a street in the upmarket area of Mayfair, and were dressed in expensive clothes and accessories as a tactic to catch lurking thieves on 10 October last year. Yakob Harket, 21, was joined by at least one accomplice during his illicit pursuit, and was caught on CCTV following closely behind the pair before trying to grab a replica Patek Philippe Rose Gold watch from the female officer’s wrist. An altercation then ocurred on Hayes Mews, Mayfair, at around 6.15pm – which saw the male officer grab Harket as he tried to flee, before a second male officer, dressed in a suit, ran over to try and help apprehend the suspect.
The second officer was then seen tripping over, giving Harket enough time to run away before he was arrested shortly after. Two other men were seen in the background of the footage being approached and arrested by plain-clothed officers in relation to the theft.
Harket, 21, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to robbery. He was joined by his accomplice, Mohamed Naas, 34, from Southwark, who was found guilty of robbery at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, April 11. Both men will be sentenced at the same court on June 2. The other two men failed to attend court after being charged in the same incident. Police are currently trying to track them down.
The men have been named as Yanis Amri, 37, last known to be living in Camden, and Adel Mohamdi, 35, last known to be living in Lewisham. A Met Police spokesperson said: “Tackling violent crime is one of the Met’s priorities and we are determined to reduce the number of robberies. Uniform and plain clothes officers proactively patrol robbery hotspots to identify offences taking place, but more importantly to help prevent and deter offenders from committing robberies in the first place.”
The Met Police have used undercover cops as a tactic to catch thieves for at least a year.
Footage has previously shown the force tasering and tackling theives to the ground in bustlting Soho after they were caught red-handed trying to grab high-value watches from the wrists of plain-clothed cops. 300 watches worth around £4m were stolen across three boroughs in London between April and September 2022.
Police found the main “hotspots” to be South Kensington, Chelsea, Soho and Mayfair, where victims – 98% of whom are men – were set upon whilst leaving bars and nightclubs on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays between 11pm and 4am.
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