Two men arrested following alleged burglaries in Derby

Two men have been arrested in connection with two burglaries in Derby.

The men, one aged 33 from Ilkeston and another aged 54 from Swadlincote, remain in police custody as enquiries continue.

Their arrests come after two burglaries in the Chellaston and Chaddesden areas of Derby on Friday (24 April) evening.

The first incident took place in Meadow Way, Chellaston, at around 7.15pm.

The victim, an 87-year-old woman, was in her front garden when a man driving a white van pulled up outside her home and told her he was there to cut her trees.

The man walked into her back garden and asked for several hundred pounds to cut them down. The victim refused and the man then pulled a chain from around the woman’s neck.

The woman was not hurt but was left shaken.

A little over 30 minutes later, at 7.55pm, the force received a call reporting a burglary at a house in Willetts Road, Chaddesden.

The couple, a man in his 70s and a woman in her 60s, told officers that a man had rang the doorbell and, after the woman opened the door, pushed his way into the house.

The burglar, who was described as being in his 50s, was wearing shorts, a navy-blue t-shirt, had a black and white face covering.

The man ripped a chain from both victim’s neck caused a minor cut to the woman’s hand with a knife during the incident, while the man was pushed to the ground and suffered bruising to his back.

Neither the man or the woman required any medical treatment.

The suspect left the scene carrying a baseball bat which had taken from the house and got into a white Transit van which is believed to have left in the direction of Breadsall.

Detectives want to speak to anyone who was in two areas at the time of the incidents and may be able to help enquiries. Of particular interest are any drivers who may have captured the van on dashcam video.

DS Matt Russell, said: “I would like to thank the public for their help over the past 36 hours – information provided has proved vital in securing these arrests.

“Further enquiries are ongoing into these two incidents and I would ask anyone with any information to come forward.

“In particular officers would like to hear from anyone who may have dashcam or CCTV footage from areas in which the two incidents took place that capture a white Ford Transit van.”

If you have any information which you believe may be able to help officers you should contact Derbyshire police using any of the below methods, including reference 20*209925 for the incident in Chellaston and 20*210061 for the incident in Chaddesden in any correspondence:

• Facebook – send us a private message to /DerbyshireConstabulary
• Twitter – direct message our contact centre on @DerPolContact
• Website – complete the online contact form www.derbyshire.police.uk/Contact-Us.
• Phone – call us on 101.