Hilarious moment shoplifter found hiding underneath carrier bag to evade police

You can't hide their mate

This is the hilarious moment a wanted shoplifter tried to hide underneath a TK Maxx carrier bag to evade the police.

Police attended an address in St Albans, Hertfordshire, in search of Kenneth Jackson, 52, on June 25, 2026 just after 11am.

Chiefs have said he was wanted for failing to appear at St Albans Magistrates’ Court on 16 June in relation to breach of court bail and theft from a shop (The Range, St Albans Retail Park) on 28 May.

The amusing bodycam footage captures the officer asking a woman at the door of the property if the person of interest is inside the house.

They then enter the property and have a look around before walking through a door into what looks like a bedroom.

A man can be seen lying under a duvet with a yellow carrier bag over his head.

The officer pulls the bag away from him and quips, "hello mate, how are you?"

The policeman then chuckles to himself before saying "keep your hands where I can see them" to the alleged criminal.

Following his arrest, Jackson, of St Albans, appeared in court on Friday June, 26, where he was fined £120, ordered to pay costs of £85 and a £48 victim surcharge.

In a post on social media, Hertfordshire Constabulary police joked about the bizarre interaction.

A spokesperson for the force said: "When life gets intense… go incognito…but we will still find you

"We've seen some interesting attempts to avoid detection over the years.

"Putting a bag over your head can now be added to the list.

"Public service announcement: Please don't put a bag over your head when hiding from us, it's not safe (just in case you were thinking about it)."

One amused viewer commented on the post saying: "Getting caught hiding under a duvet with a bag on your head is humiliating enough, being laughed at the the officer is the salt in the wound."

Another said: "She may have lied about him not being in the house but could you imagine if she told the truth.. “yeah mate, he’s just through there with a bag on his head”.

One other said: "That was a polite British arrest."