Police in Essex, United Kingdom, have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly stealing dummies from children's mouths.
Josh Guilder is accused of approaching children between February 10 and August 7 in the Staple Tye Shopping Centre, Woodcroft, Parsloe Road, and Cooks Spinney areas and allegedly approaching people with babies and taking their dummies.
"Officers from our Criminal Investigation Department were carrying out enquiries in Harlow on Monday and arrested a 23-year-old man on suspicion of theft from a person, robbery and using threatening behaviour to cause alarm or distress. He remains in custody," Essex police said in a statement.
Guilder has been charged with five counts of theft, three counts of common assault, and a public order offence.
"We know these incidents rightly caused concern amongst the community in Harlow. We acted quickly and decisively in investigating these matters, and I would like to thank the multitude of people who shared our appeals and came forward with information to assist us with our enquiries," police added.
Police added that the investigation is ongoing and officers are appealing for victims to come forward.
In a separate incident, police arrested a 39-year-old man in Southernhay in Basildon, on suspicion of assault. It is alleged that the accused headbutted a woman and punched a man on the head. An investigation has been launched, and police are carrying out enquiries to establish the sequence of events that led up to this incident. The accused remains on bail until October 25.
IOL