Cop chopper scrambled for a stolen purse

Jul 24 2008 by Shirley Bartynek, Hamilton Advertiser

POLICE this week used the Strathclyde Force’s helicopter to look for a stolen purse.

Officers received information that a purse, which had been taken during a sneak-in-theft from a house in Burnbank at the weekend, had been thrown onto the top of a roof.

Hamilton Police had asked for the helicopter to carry out a rooftop search in a bid to find the 74-year-old woman’s stolen purse.

The helicopter was scrambled at around 8pm on Tuesday night for half an hour over the Burnbank area.

Officers found the purse on top of a building in Fullwood Industrial Estate, Burnbank.

Many residents in the Burnbank area were on Wednesday morning left wondering why the helicopter had been deployed.

One Burnbank resident said: “It seemed to be out for some time last night (Wednesday). The helicopter was flying quite low and was very noisy. We were forced to turn up our televisions.”

Chief Inspector Tom Aitken at Hamilton Police said: “The helicopter often carries out searches for various reasons including missing persons and rooftop searches.

“On this occasion the officers were successful in locating the missing purse before heading off to another incident in the Cumbernauld area. A juvenile has been reported for this incident and the woman has her purse back.”

A 14-year-old boy has been reported to the Reporter of the Children’s Panel.