British man arrested trying to steal an 8,000 euro watch from jewellery shop

A British ex-pat was arrested on Tuesday afternoon after trying to steal a watch worth 8,000 euros from the Santos Jewellery store, located in the town of Costa Teguise in Lanzarote.

According to the police report, he entered the store and asked the assistant if he could look at the watch, which is evident on CCTV footage, and after she passed it to him; he took it and ran out of the premises.

The saleswoman chased after him shouting for help, and as luck would have it, an off-duty policeman was just down the road in the direction the man was running, who tackled him to the ground.

The off-duty officer held the man down until two more agents from the Teguise Local Police arrived and arrested him.

The detainee was taken to the Costa Teguise Guardia Civil barracks and will appear in court today with the relevant police report and CCTV footage of the incident.