A man was arrested after he was running away with a bag that he had stolen from a car in Magri Street, Marsa, at 9.30am.

The police said the theft took place after a Marsa woman, 39, stopped to buy from a shop. Her 12-year-old boy waited for her in the car.

As he was doing so, a man grabbed a bag that was on the passenger seat and ran off. The boy started to chase him.

A search was mounted for the thief and, meanwhile, the woman returned to the car and, seeing her son was not there, she reported him missing. The police were about to start searching for him when he turned up with other officers.

The man, 28, from Cospicua, was later arrested and the bag was returned to the owner.