Police have identified a Ross Geller lookalike whose alleged robbery prompted thousands of online comments and a denial from “Friends” star David Schwimmer himself.
A post appealing for information went viral after Facebook users noticed the suspect, pictured by CCTV clutching a crate of beer, resembled the sitcom character.
“Could we BE any more overwhelmed with the response to our CCTV appeal about a theft at a restaurant in Blackpool?” Lancashire Police tweeted on Thursday, after the alleged crime in an English seaside town.
“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,” they added.
Fans of the show had inundated Blackpool Police with jokes after their appeal went viral.
“It’s not been his day, his month or even his year,” one user joked on Blackpool Police’s original Facebook post, which was shared over 113,000 times before being deleted.
“I heard his getaway driver was stuck in 2nd gear,” another wrote, also mimicking the show’s theme song.
The episode — which one user dubbed “The One Where Ross Became a Thief” — led to Schwimmer posting a video on his Twitter page recreating the getaway.
“Officers, I swear it wasn’t me. As you can see, I was in New York. To the hardworking Blackpool Police, good luck with the investigation,” he wrote.
Blackpool Police said 23 million people saw the post before it was removed, while Schwimmer’s response has been “liked” more than 585,000 times.
“Could he BE any more like Ross?” asked one of the most-liked replies to Blackpool Police’s post.
Dumfries Police in Scotland also joined in the fun, warning people to “keep away” from the suspect. “He is known to have studied Karate and we believe he has mastered the art of Unagi, the state of total awareness,” they wrote, referencing an episode in which Ross claims to be a self-defense expert.
The incident in question took place in Blackpool, in northwest England, on September 20.
