Ross Thief
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Overview
Ross Thief refers to a picture of a thief in Blackpool, England that grew popular on social media as people thought the thief looked like David Schwimmer, the actor who played Ross on Friends.
Background
On October 23rd, 2018, the Facebook page for the Blackpool Police[1] department posted a photo of a person wanted for questioning about a restaurant robbery on September 20th (shown below). Commenters immediately began commenting that the man looked like David Schwimmer, the actor who played Ross in Friends. Users commented quotes from the show, leading the page to comment that Schwimmer was in America on the date. The post gained over 49,000 likes and reactions and 93,000 shares.
Developments
As the story went viral on Facebook, it was reported on by numerous British outlets, which led to the story going viral on Twitter, as users also chimed in with Friends-related jokes with regards to the story. For example, BBC Breakfast tweeted a reference to the Friends theme song, gaining over 2,700 retweets and 6,200 likes (shown below, left). User @judyinrichmond posted a reference to a Friends episode where Ross had an evil doppleganger, gaining over 170 retweets and 1,500 likes (shown below, right).
David Schwimmer took the story in good humor, posting a video of himself recreating the image, gaining over 52,000 retweets and 148,000 likes (shown below).
Officers, I swear it wasn't me.
— schwim (@DavidSchwimmer) October 24, 2018
As you can see, I was in New York.
To the hardworking Blackpool Police, good luck with the investigation.#itwasntme pic.twitter.com/EDFF9dZoYR
The story was covered by multiple news outlets, including Daily Dot,[2] Washington Post,[3] and The Guardian.[4]
Apprehension of Suspect
On November 13th, 2018, the Lancastershire Police tweeted that they had apprehended the suspect. In their tweet, they thanked David Schwimmer for his support (shown below).
The arrest was covered by BBC,[5] The Sun,[6] Daily Beast,[7] and others.
Search Interest
External References
[1] Facebook – Blackpool Police
[2] Daily Dot – Everyone loves this thief who looks like Ross from ‘Friends’
[3] Washington Post – ‘The One Where Ross Became a Thief’ British police hunt David Schwimmer look-alike
[4] The Guardian – David Schwimmer tells police in Blackpool 'I swear it wasn't me'
[5] BBC – Arrest in hunt for Blackpool 'Ross from Friends' lookalike
[6] The Sun – THE ONE WITH THE ARREST David Schwimmer lookalike ‘thief’ arrested after police appeal sent internet into meltdown
[7] Daily Beast – British Cops Arrest Suspect in Viral ‘Ross From Friends’ Theft
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