My card was stolen, cops didn’t care so I tracked crook down & did citizen’s arrest – now he’s waiting for sentence
A DAD tracked down a crook who used his bank card, chased him and made a citizen’s arrest — after police showed no interest.
Scott Dunster, 38, turned detective after his car was broken into at his home on New Year’s Eve and his wife’s purse stolen with their joint account card.
He checked his account and found £60 had been spent in an off-licence — so went there and obtained CCTV showing a man using the card.
Scott offered police the image but when no immediate action was taken he posted it on Facebook and users in Eastbourne, East Sussex, named him as Joseph Khas.
A social media friend then spotted Khas on Monday afternoon and tipped off Scott.
Scott tried to call police on 101 but could not get through so confronted Khas himself.
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He chased him for 600 yards through the town centre, tackled him and pinned him to the ground with the help of security stewards.
After being handed to cops, Khas, 27, pleaded guilty to fraud at Brighton magistrates.
Recruitment consultant Scott told The Sun: “I had to take action and get justice.
“I risked my life confronting him. He could have been armed with a weapon.
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“But I was so angry at the lack of action from the police that I decided to do something.
“This guy put me and my family through two nights of hell.
“The police told me the arrest helped their crime figures but I had done all the work.
“Sussex Police’s lack of action when handed the evidence was shameful.”
Khas was bailed to be sentenced on February 2. There was no evidence to charge anyone with stealing the purse — which was recovered.
Former Met detective chief inspector Mick Neville added: “Once again, we see a victim of crime left to investigate.”
Sussex Police said they had received a report of a bank card being stolen from a car in Stanstead Road, Eastbourne. at 7.45am on Saturday, 31 December, 2022, with the card being used at shops in the town centre.
A spokesperson said: "The report was allocated to a local officer for further investigation.
"Police were notified later that day that the victim had identified the suspect through other means. While the investigation was ongoing, information relating to the suspect’s whereabouts was received by the victim and he was detained in the town centre with the assistance of security workers.
"Officers were nearby dealing with an unconnected incident and swiftly arrested the suspect."
Khas will be sentenced on February 2.
A police spokesperson added: “We commend the victim for being so proactive and providing us with additional information which led to Khas being apprehended.
"The public are our extra eyes and ears, however we encourage people to report information they have about a crime to us, so we can investigate fully without victims putting themselves in harm’s way."
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Last week The Sun told how a million burglary and theft cases were dropped last year without cops finding a suspect.
- LEADING barrister Clare Montgomery thinks police have lost interest “prosecuting fraud anywhere.” The lawyer told the Double Jeopardy podcast that not only were there no longer big state trials such as Guinness or Maxwell, but “low-level” frauds were also “largely ignored".