THIS is the shocking moment The Bill icon Reg Hollis helps tackle a shoplifter to the ground in a real life arrest.
TV star Jeff Stewart, who played his role on the hit police drama for 24 years, stepped in to help on Wednesday.
Bodycam footage from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary revealed a chase unfolding in Ocean Way, Southampton.
Officers run after suspected shoplifter, Mohamed Diallo, who is attempting to flee the scene by bike.
He falls off a few times before being knocked over by the police.
Policemen pin him to the floor, with the help of Jeff, who sits on his legs.
The former Bill legend, casually wearing sunglasses and shorts, is thanked and replies: "No, sure, man. Well, I was in The Bill for 24 years, in the TV show. Yeah, I played Reg."
The star later posed with the force for a group photo.
They posted: "Long since retired from Sun Hill station – but he's still got it!"
Mohamed Diallo, 29, admitted stealing alcohol and food in five separate incidents.
He will be sentenced by Southampton magistrates in August.
Jeff was one of the longest lasting actors on The Bill, appearing from 1984 to 2008.
He appeared alongside Graham Cole's PC Tony Stamp and Mark Wingett's character DC Jim Carver.
Following his departure from the show, Jeff starred in 2009's Dead Man Running, 2010's Tomorrow and Under Jakob's Ladder in 2011 – where he managed to bag himself Best Actor at the Manhattan Film Festival.
Speaking about leaving the drama, he previously said: "I didn't see a counsellor, it was evident I was OK and I never worried how it would affect my career.
"I thought, 'I have a choice, you can either stagnate or blossom."
The Bill launched on ITV in 1983 but was axed in 2010, after running for an incredible 26 series.
The show, set in the fictional Sun Hill in London, became the longest-running police procedural drama in Britain.
It helped launch the careers of Keira Knightley, David Tennant, James Mcavoy, Sean Bean and David Walliams.
This comes after more shocking arrests have been caught on camera up and down the country.
In one incident, cops were punched and kicked by a baying mob before one officer body slammed a yob against car.
Last month dramatic footage revealed the moment cops arrested a 92-year-old man for a murder carried out nearly 60 years before.
Video caught on police bodycam saw Ryland Headley being detained at his home for the murder of Louisa Dunne in what was Britain's oldest cold case review.
Elsewhere, a dashcam recording captured the moment a biker yob dragged a hero cop down the road as he tried to arrest him for anti-social riding.
Sergeant Tom Brookes asked Scott Ryall, 21, to pull over after he spotted him doing dangerous wheelies in Bargoed, Wales, on April 8.
Plus, cops released a video showing a sacked police officer tackling a teenage suspect and screaming in his face.
The shocking footage was made public after a campaign was launched to reverse the decision to dismiss PC Lorne Castle for the "aggressive" and "intimidating" arrest.
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