A man was arrested today after he stole a bag from a car and was chased by a12-year-old boy who had been in the same vehicle.

The incident happened at about 9.30 a.m. in Patri Magri Street, Marsa.

A 39-year-old woman parked the car outside a shop and popped in for some shopping, leaving her son inside the vehicle.

A passer-by grabbed a bag from the passenger seat and ran off.  The boy got out of the car and gave chase, the police said.

People on the scene alerted the police who started a search for the man and the boy. The man - who was known to the police, was arrested a short while later, and the boy was accompanied to the police station.

The distraught mother went to the police station enquiring about her son and then spotting him being brought to the station by policemen.

The boy confirmed that the 28-year-old man from Cospicua who was arrested was the one who had stolen the bag.

The bag was returned to the woman.