Man arrested following hunt for David Schwimmer lookalike

British police thank the actor for his support after arrest in suspected theft case

File images, one issued by Blackpool Police of a suspected thief (L) and the other posted on the Twitter feed of David Schwimmer parodying his resemblance to the suspect. Photograph: Blackpool Police/@DavidSchwimmer/PA Wire
File images, one issued by Blackpool Police of a suspected thief (L) and the other posted on the Twitter feed of David Schwimmer parodying his resemblance to the suspect. Photograph: Blackpool Police/@DavidSchwimmer/PA Wire

British police looking for a suspected thief with a resemblance to Friends actor David Schwimmer have made an arrest in London.

After police in Blackpool posted an image of a suspected thief leaving a restaurant and carrying what appeared to be a carton of cans, social media users pointed out the likeness of the suspect to Schwimmer's character Ross Geller in the popular US sitcom.

Schwimmer later responded to the picture by posting a video to his Twitter account that showed him scurrying through a convenience store carrying a carton of beer before looking up furtively at a CCTV camera.

He captioned the video: “Officers, I swear it wasn’t me. As you can see, I was in New York.

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“To the hardworking Blackpool Police, good luck with the investigation.”

He added the hashtag #itwasntme to the post.

On Tuesday, Lancashire Police posted an update on the investigation into the alleged theft in the resort on September 20th.

The force tweeted: “Following the appeal we posted looking for a man who resembles a well-known actor, we now have an update.

“Thanks to our colleagues @MetPoliceUK, a 36-year-old man was arrested in Southall last night on suspicion of theft. Thank you for the support, especially @DavidSchwimmer!”

The Met Police retweeted the post, saying: “Happy to help @LancsPolice #IllBeThereForYou”, referring to the Friends theme tune. – PA