Police officers Tasered a shirtless teen robber in a McDonald's after a machete tumbled from his trousers during his arrest on Clumber Street in Nottingham. Theo Gottshalk, 19, had threatened to "chop" the arm of a fellow teen unless he handed over his phone during a robbery on Woolpack Lane on September 9 last year. He made off with the victim's phone, bracelet and chain, and evaded capture for two weeks before being spotted on a Nottingham bus following a police manhunt.
Violent resistance at McDonald's
When officers tracked Gottshalk to the McDonald's on October 23, he violently resisted arrest, trying to wrestle four police officers. Bodycam footage shows him making a dash for the door, losing his shirt in the process, before being downed by a Taser. As he fell, a three-foot-long machete with a red handle dropped from his trousers – the same weapon he had used in the September robbery. Police also recovered several deal bags of cannabis they said Gottshalk was carrying at the time.
Additional offences admitted
Gottshalk, now 20, admitted robbery, possessing a knife in a public place, and possession of cannabis with intent to supply. He also admitted two further robberies in Birmingham, one on September 25, 2023, and another on September 12, 2024. He pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm after being caught with a converted blank-firing pistol in Birmingham in November 2023.
Jailed for 13 years
Appearing at Birmingham Crown Court on October 16, Gottshalk, of Forest Fields, Nottingham, was jailed for 13 years as part of an extended custodial sentence. Detective Constable Ben Grayson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "Theo Gottshalk is a callous and violent criminal who appears to think he can take what he wants when he wants from other people. He also thought nothing of putting lives at risk by carrying such a large and potentially lethal weapon in a public place. He was this point a danger to the wider public and I am pleased he has now been held to account."
