A policeman jumps into a frozen river to catch a thief

A policeman has arrested a man who stole a statue of nuclear physicist Ernest Rutherford in Bright Water, New Zealand, over the weekend, after diving into freezing river water to catch it.

Thus, it will be possible to restore the statue of Ernest Rutherford, the 1908 Nobel Prize winner, born in Brightwater, to its pedestal.

The statue was stolen Friday evening, and security cameras captured images of the thief fleeing on a bicycle with the heavy metal statue.

After the 35-year-old suspect jumped two days later into the icy Y-Ity River to escape the police, police officer Jimmy White also jumped into the icy waters to catch him.

"Despite his best efforts to escape across the Y-Etty River, I caught him by surprise, swam behind him and managed to catch him," White told AFP in a statement.

The suspect is scheduled to appear in court today.

The statue, which was found in a house in good condition, is to be returned to its pedestal at the Rutherford Memorial in Brightwater.