![The Schwimmer lookalike who stole beer may have been identified. [Images left Blackpool Police, right @davidschwimmer/Twitter]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/10/26/660x290/b_502x220x82/the-schwimmer-lookalike-who-stole-beer-may-have-been-identified-images-left-blackpool-police-right-davidschwimmertwitter_2129239.jpg "The Schwimmer lookalike who stole beer may have been identified. [Images left Blackpool Police, right @davidschwimmer/Twitter]")
Blackpool Police had posted a CCTV image on Facebook of a man who had stolen a crate of beer from a restaurant. The man looked uncannily like David Schwimmer, who played Ross Geller on the US sitcom “Friends.” Schwimmer posted a video to Twitter of him pretending to steal beer from a New York supermarket, pleading not guilty to the theft.
The police were inundated with calls and messages following their Facebook post, and it turns out Schwimmer didn’t need to prove his innocence as the culprit has been identified. Meanwhile, a woman believes the thief is her missing adopted son but police say this isn't so.
Police identify potential beer thief
As reported by the BBC, Lancashire Police said in a Twitter statement that they were overwhelmed with responses after they made the Facebook post. While many were in humour, it turns out they think they know who the culprit is and they now need to find his current whereabouts. The man in question is also, apparently, wanted for the theft of a mobile phone, a jacket and a wallet.
Could we BE any more overwhelmed with the response to our CCTV appeal after a theft at a restaurant in Blackpool? Most importantly, we're now satisfied we've identified the man in the still & our enquiries are very much continuing. Huge thanks for sharing it with your Friends 👍 pic.twitter.com/61V2V4KMuu
— Blackpool Police (@BlackpoolPolice) October 25, 2018
They continued by saying they are satisfied they have identified the culprit in the photo and their inquiries are ongoing.
They then jokingly thanked everyone for sharing the image with their “Friends.”
Blackpool Police had previously confirmed that David Schwimmer was not in Blackpool at the time of the theft and their Facebook post had attracted more than 133,000 comments mentioning the show.
Mother says thief could be her adopted son
While the police have not released the name of the potential suspect, Susan Trowbridge was amazed to see the Facebook story about the man who had stolen beer from a Blackpool restaurant.
Trowbridge, 58, of Swindon contacted police to say the photograph looks amazingly like her missing adopted son, Paul Trowbridge, who disappeared in July 2007.
The Mirror quotes Trowbridge as it could be “mother’s instinct,” but she is 100% convinced the suspect is her adopted son. She said it’s something about his eyes and his hair that tells her it is him.
She said he resembled Schwimmer even as a teenager. However, she says when she contacted the police, they told her the suspect is not her son, which she cannot understand.
Paul was adopted by Trowbridge when he was nine and apparently suffers from schizophrenia. Trowbridge said she last saw Paul, who would now be 36 when she saw him off on a holiday to Barbados. She believes he may have taken up with the wrong crowd and had been possibly used as a drug mule.
Susan said she had finally got used to the idea he wasn’t coming back and suddenly seeing the photo and messages about him brought it all back. She is desperate to find out if Paul is still out there and alive and vows to not stop searching for her son.
In the meanwhile, Blackpool Police are appealing to the public to contact them with any information about the theft.
