Fylde Rural Task Force were out on patrol in St. Anne’s yesterday (4th April) when they noticed a blue Mercedes Sprinter low loader with no front number plate and a rear light hanging off (pictured below). The driver seemed to be concealing his face with his hand as he passed the patrol.
The officers tried to stop the low loader, but the driver made off at speed in residential streets before abandoning the van and running off. The officers gave chase.
The male was arrested and initially provided false details, but he had a strong resemblance of someone the team had been hunting down for a while. They recognised the man to be Jacob Smith who is a disqualified driver and was wanted x 6 by Cumbria for Rural Crime offences – stealing machinery, farm equipment, IFOR Williams trailers and boxes. He was also wanted x 2 by Wales Police for failing to appear at court after being charged with motoring offences including dangerous driving and failing to stop for the police.
Not only that, he was wanted by the Fylde Rural Team for mainly Rural Crime Offences – some of these including theft of power tools, machinery, burglary, theft of IFOR Williams trailers and horse boxes, arson, as well dangerous driving whereby a stolen vehicle crashed and was driven at officers whilst making an escape.
Following consultation with the CPS Jacob Smith, aged 22, from Blackpool has been charged with 21 offences and remanded to prison by the courts today. This follows on from a two-year complex investigation into Rural Crime by the Fylde teams.
