Suspected underground cable thief emerges from manhole in busy city centre

LocalPolitics
22 Jan 2026 • 11:35 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

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A suspected underground cable thief emerged from a manhole after being caught by police officers in Birmingham.

Video shared by West Midlands Police on Wednesday (21 January) shows officers and a police dog approaching the covering after members of the public flagged them down and reported a potential cable theft.

After arresting two suspects on suspicion of theft, and a van containing the cables was recovered, officers became aware that a third suspect was still underground.

They can be heard telling the suspect to “come out now, or the dog’s going down”. The suspect then climbs up a ladder before emerging at street level, where he was arrested.

Three men, aged 48, 45 and 37, remained in custody as of Wednesday.

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