'Arrest' in sunglasses theft row

A garage owner has complained to police after a mechanic said he was arrested by an off-duty officer in a row over an alleged theft of sunglasses.

Mechanic Richard Smith claimed the officer, who had had an MOT on his car, detained him at the garage's offices.

Mr Smith, of MOTMax in Mansfield, said the sunglasses were later found in the policeman's car and he was de-arrested.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police confirmed they had received a complaint which was being investigated.

Sergeant's 'apology'

Mr Smith said: "[The off-duty policeman] said to me, 'I believe you've stolen my Ray-Ban sunglasses' and with that put me under arrest...

"... He searched me, frisked me, searched my office, my bags and then he rang for back-up, then he searched with the PC all of the premises, still couldn't find the sunglasses. Eventually they had a look in his car again and they actually found the sunglasses."

He said a police sergeant later rang the garage to apologise.

Stefan Hopewell, managing director of the garage, said: "We thought it was a joke at first and then, at the end, it was just going through the mind of the reputational impact it would have both on Richard and on the company."

A Nottinghamshire Police spokesperson said a formal complaint had been received following the incident in March.

An investigation by the Professional Standards Department had been carried out and the matter had been resolved locally.

The police statement said: "Following an allegation of theft on the day in question, no criminal charges have been brought against anyone at the garage.

"Nottinghamshire Police's Professional Standards Department has fully investigated the formal complaint and it has been locally resolved. The complainants have also been updated."