Suspect detained in dramatic Wigan sting

The incident occurred at around 4.45pm on Friday, February 16 on Gerard Street in Ashton when police publicly stopped and detained five men.

Armed plain-clothes officers surrounded the culprits’ black saloon in three unmarked cars before making the arrests.

Revellers drinking in Wetherspoons lined the streets alongside pedestrians and shoppers to watch the action unfold.

The video shows the non-uniformed officers pinning three men to the ground on one side of the car, while two more officers detain the other two men on the other side of the road.

Witnesses can be heard talking about the “gun cops” and speculating about what the suspects may have done.

“That’s the way to do it,” one man can be heard saying off-camera as officers pin the men to the floor.

Police have confirmed that they attended Gerard Street and detained five on suspicion of robbery.

A witness said: “The traffic was stopped outside Wetherspoon’s for over thirty minutes. All of the windows were put through on the car that had been stopped.

“There seemed to be dozens of police officers involved. Quite a lot of them in plain clothes.”