Man arrested in connection with theft of Brighton motorcycles

A man has been arrested and two stolen motorcycles have been recovered after officers stopped a suspect’s van that had left Brighton.

Police were alerted by the owner of one of the motorbikes who reported a tracker which showed the vehicle on the move northwards out of Brighton shortly after 5.30pm on Wednesday, March 23.

Officers from the Specialist Enforcement Unit (SEU), Sussex Dog Section and Surrey and Sussex Roads Policing Unit were called in to help locate a van being driven by a suspect.

Several vehicles were stopped and searched on the A23, but the tracking device alerted officers that the suspect’s vehicle was in Coulsdon.

SEU officers monitored the vehicle’s progress, and with the support of the RPU and officers from the Metropolitan Police, the vehicle was stopped in London Road, Croydon shortly after 7pm.

Inside the van, police found two motorbikes which had been reported stolen from Hereford Street, Brighton, and Palmeira Square, Hove.

A 48-year-old man from Croydon was arrested on suspicion of the theft of two motor vehicles and was taken to custody in Brighton, where he remains.