A POLICE officer tackled a thief as he fled his local pub with cash stolen from fruit machines.
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The officer tackled Lee Anderson, 39, to the ground as he fled the Fieldhouse pub in Knightcote Drive, Monkspath.
Anderson used a hammer to smash into the pub in the early hours of September 17, police said in a press release.
The pub’s alarm system alerted passers-by and the police were called. Anderson seen jumped over garden fences.
A police sniffer dog found the hammer and balaclava and a holdall containing £100 was recovered from a garden.
Anderson admitted burglary and at Solihull Magistrates Court and was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for 12 months.
He was ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work in the community, £400 compensation to the pub, £85 court costs and probation.
Investigating Officer DC Dave Mason from Solihull Police, said: "Anderson has a history of breaking-in to pubs to attack gaming machines, although his last offence was more than 15 years ago.
"He'd recently got into debt and, unfortunately, his desperation saw him return to his offending past.
"We're grateful to the witnesses whose swift actions enabled us to catch him just minutes after he fled the pub."
