Hertfordshire Police have released bodycam footage showing the moment officers found a suspected shoplifter hiding under a duvet with an orange shopping bag over his head in an attempt to evade arrest. The force described the tactic as a first, despite having witnessed many unusual evasion methods over the years.
Bodycam Footage Reveals Unusual Hiding Spot
The video, shared by Hertfordshire Police on social media, shows an officer approaching a residence in St Albans and asking a woman at the door if the suspect was inside. The woman responded "no," but the officer entered, saying, "Can we come and have a look? Has he been around here at all?" The officer then searched the house and discovered a man lying on a bed, concealed under a pile of covers with an orange bag over his head.
"How are you, mate?" the officer asked while laughing, before removing the bag and instructing the man to keep his hands visible. The force commented in the post: "When life gets intense… go incognito. But we still find you. We’ve seen some interesting attempts to avoid detection over the years. Putting a bag over your head can now be added to that list. Wanted man arrested in St Albans."
Police Warn Against Unsafe Hiding Methods
In a public service announcement accompanying the footage, the force advised: "Please don’t put a bag over your head when hiding from us. It’s not safe (just in case you were thinking about it)." The arrest comes as Hertfordshire intensifies efforts to combat retail crime, which has been described as a shoplifting epidemic in the UK.
Hertfordshire's ShopSafeAlert Initiative
The area has launched a shoplifter alert system called ShopSafeAlert, which shares information about suspects across Bishop’s Stortford, St Albans, Welwyn Garden City, and Stevenage. This allows stores to identify and track repeat offenders more effectively. Jonathan Ash-Edwards, the police and crime commissioner for Hertfordshire, stated: "I’m determined that we turn the tide on retail crime in Hertfordshire. It is not a victimless crime; it impacts hard-working retail staff, hurts independent businesses and means we all pay more as consumers."
Shoplifting Statistics and Industry Concerns
According to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, shoplifting offences declined by 1% to 509,566 across the UK in the year ending December 2025. However, Lucy Whing, Crime Policy Adviser at the British Retail Consortium, noted that their own figures showed 5.5 million detected incidents of theft last year. She added that ONS figures "likely underestimate the issue, as it only captures reported incidents," and described retail theft as a "significant challenge for retailers." The incident highlights ongoing efforts by police and retailers to address shoplifting, with innovative tactics like ShopSafeAlert being deployed to curb the trend.
