--- ---  # Police Arrested a Sneaky Bird for Its Part in a Robbery by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Sep 30, 2019 2:34 PM UTC  Utrecht, The Netherlands - June 30, 2011: Close-up of the logo of the Dutch police taken from the police station on the Briljantlaan in Utrecht Utrecht, The Netherlands - June 30, 2011: Close-up of the logo of the Dutch police taken from the police station on the Briljantlaan in UtrechtGetty Images by [Rachel E. Greenspan](https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/) ## Rachel E. Greenspan Sep 30, 2019 2:34 PM UTC A Dutch [bird](https://time.com/5681255/north-america-bird-population/) was spotted at the scene of the crime, and the police evidently had a lot of fun doling out a punishment. Police in Utrecht, in the Netherlands, found the “sneaky witness” when arresting a shoplifting subject. Politie Utrecht shared a picture of the bird on their [Instagram](https://time.com/5670210/mylo-the-cat-interview/) page last week. “We recently arrested a suspect for a shoplifting,” the caption said. “During the arrest we found a sneaky witness with feathers and beak on the suspect’s shoulder.” The police allegedly gave the bird [bread](https://time.com/longform/women-urban-farmers/) and water to keep it satiated in the police station. Responsible! When initially reporting on the bird’s arrest, news organization RTV Utrecht blurred out the bird’s eyes to keep his identity private. Also responsible! > [](https://twitter.com/CampbellxEmma/status/1178400639208116224) The bird has not yet made a plea in the case, but with all this media attention, it will likely make a move in the coming days. Dutch Police Arrested a Bird for Its Part in a Robbery ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5689057/bird-arrest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5689057/bird-arrest/"},"headline":"Police Arrested a Sneaky Bird for Its Part in a Robbery","datePublished":"2019-09-30T14:34:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:00:26.270Z","description":"The bird has not yet made a plea in the case","url":"https://time.com/5689057/bird-arrest/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Bizarre","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6a52ea7710415a9/698a039f011682805c97e4bc/dutch-police-arrest-bird.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rachel E. Greenspan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rachel-e-greenspan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte6a52ea7710415a9/698a039f011682805c97e4bc/dutch-police-arrest-bird.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dutch Police Arrested a Bird for Its Part in a Robbery","caption":"Dutch police logo","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5689057/bird-arrest/","name":"Police Arrested a Sneaky Bird for Its Part in a Robbery"}}]}] ```