Police search for thief who ‘looks like Ross from Friends’

A CCTV shot of a man sought by police for a theft in Blackpool has gone viral after Facebook users pointed out the wanted man’s resemblance to Ross from Friends.

Blackpool police officers shared the still image, which shows the unidentified man carrying a crate of cans, on their Facebook page yesterday.

“Do you recognise this man?” they asked.

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Unfortunately, many users said they did immediately recognise the suspect - as Ross Geller, the character played by David Schwimmer in the 1990s sitcom Friends.

Predictably, the man’s uncanny resemblance to the character brought out the best in Facebook commenters, who quickly responded to the post with tongue-in-cheek references to the show.

“I heard his getaway driver was in second gear,” wrote one amused fan, while another wryly warned members of the public to “approach with caution”, as the suspect “is known to have studied karate and we believe he has mastered the art of Unagi”.

Referencing a subplot in which Ross stole items from a hotel room, another commenter wrote: “The batteries from the remote, no, no, no. A crate of cans from the shop, yes, yes, yes.”

As comments piled up into the hundreds and then into the thousands, police couldn’t resist getting in on the joke to address the “lead”.

Thanking Facebook users for their “speedy responses”, Blackpool police wrote that they had “investigated this matter thoroughly and have confirmed that David Schwimmer was in America on this date”.

“We’re sorry it has to be this way,” they added.

The good news for the officers, who initially uploaded the photo to spread the word of the crime in the hopes of identifying their suspect, is that the viral post has now been shared more than 65,000 times.