Update, 13/11/18: In one of the stranger stories of 2018, Lancashire Police have thanked Friends star David Schwimmer for his support in their quest to find a Ross Geller lookalike who has now been arrested on suspicion of theft.
The police force announced on Tuesday (November 13) that they have arrested a 36-year-old man, following an appeal that gained a whole lot of attention after Schwimmer inserted himself into the long-running line of Friends jokes infiltrating Blackpool Police's Facebook page following the force's appeal for information.
Lancashire Police also thanked officers at London's Metropolitan Police, as the suspect was found in Southall, London. The Met's social media team clearly couldn't resist rounding off the whole debacle with one final pun, either:
Update, 24/10/18: David Schwimmer has now got in on all the fun and responded to that viral image of the Ross Geller lookalike sought by police.
In a brilliant video posted to Twitter, the Friends actor can be seen scurrying through a supermarket looking suspicious – beer cans and all.
"Officers, I swear it wasn't me," he wrote alongside the clip. "As you can see, I was in New York. To the hardworking Blackpool Police, good luck with the investigation."
Another to add to the list of Ross being the absolute worst, then...
Original article: Local police Facebook community pages are rarely a source of entertainment. However, the team at Blackpool Police station managed to change this unintentionally when they shared a photo of an alleged criminal on Tuesday (October 23).
"Do you recognise this man? We want to speak to him in relation to a theft at a Blackpool restaurant on the 20th September," the post asked.
Followers of the page soon questioned if they actually might know the man after all, when they realised he bore a resemblance to everyone's favourite fictional palaeontologist.
We're not 100% sold on the comparison of the man in question with David Schwimmer's character Ross Geller from Friends. They have similar hair and a similar build which might be where the likeness ends, yet that didn't stop Facebook users going to town with Friends quotes,
Here's some of our favourites from the 105,000 comments:
"I was going to read the report for this but it was 18 pages... FRONT AND BACK! It rambled on for so long that I fell aslEEP."
"It's NOT that common. It DOESN'T happen to every guy, and it IS A BIG DEAL!!! "
"Lay off him. He grew up with Monica. IF YOU DIDNT EAT FAST YOU DIDNT EAT"
"Please approach with caution. He is known to have studied Karate and we believe he has mastered the art of Unagi, the state of total awareness."
"I bet he shouted 'PIVOT' as he lifted the beers...."
"Did he count those cans Mississippilessly!?"
"I think I saw him, years ago, when I was backpacking across Western Europe.He was just outside Barcelona.."
"There were concerns for his safety but apparently, he's told friends and family 'I'M FINE!'"
"Mum, Dad, Ross stole a case of beers... yeah well Hurricane Gloria didn't break the porch swing, Monica did!!"
"Police would like to speak to anyone who has any information in connection to this wanted man. Last spotted wearing a faded salmon shirt and tight leather pants."
As this was serious police business, of course, Blackpool Police responded appropriately:
"Thank you to everyone for your speedy responses. We have investigated this matter thoroughly and have confirmed that David Schwimmer was in America on this date. We're so sorry it has to be this way."
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