Ray Mallon tackles suspected thief during day trip to Edinburgh A politician and former detective dubbed "Robocop" has told how he wrestled a suspected watch thief to the ground outside an exclusive shop. Middlesbrough's elected mayor Ray Mallon, 58, put a man in a headlock and held on with the help of two female shop assistants until police arrived. Officers in Edinburgh arrested a man on Saturday afternoon. Mr Mallon, who was on a day-trip to the Scottish city, was outside the Laing jewellers on Frederick Street when the incident occurred. He said: "I was visiting Edinburgh for the day and enjoying a bit of window shopping. I was looking at some watches in the window of a jeweller's shop when I noticed a commotion inside. Suddenly a man came sprinting out the door with two assistants chasing after him. What happened next was instinctive, it took me back to the old days. I stepped across the man and we grabbed hold of each other and wrestled for a few seconds. I managed to get him in a headlock and we ended up on the ground. The two female assistants showed great courage and deserve a lot of praise. The man was shouting and trying to get away but they did a great job helping me to restrain him until police arrived and took him into custody. Mr Mallon was a senior detective with Cleveland Police and in the 1990s was feted by both Labour and Conservatives for pioneering a zero-tolerance strategy in Middlesbrough. He won the Robocop nickname for his no-nonsense approach to crime.