‘Ross from Friends’ lookalike on run from police after failing to attend court over alleged beer theft

Abdulah Husseni was charged by police with stealing a crate of beer from a restaurant in Blackpool in September

A “lookalike” of Friends star David Schwimmer has gone on the run after failing to appear in court to answer theft and fraud charges.

Abdulah Husseni was charged by police with stealing a crate of beer from a restaurant in Blackpool in September after their online appeal unwittingly attracted international attention.

Social media users had suggested CCTV images of the suspect bore a striking resemblance to the actor, who played Ross Geller in the hit sitcom for a decade between 1994 and 2004.

Officers eventually detained Husseni in connection with the incident in November and he had been due to appear at Blackpool Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

However, after he failed to answer this summons, district judge Jane Goodwin issued a warrant for his arrest.

The defendant had received instructions to report to the court by 9.30am at the latest on Tuesday in order to attend the hearing.

The original appeal on Blackpool Police’s Facebook page attracted tens of thousands of comments and shares when it was first posted in October.

Many users saw the funny side, offering Friends quotes and references in response to the attempt to identify the suspect.

Schwimmer, who police later confirmed had not been in the UK at the time of the incident, even joined in on the joke, posting mock security camera footage of himself on Twitter.

“Officers, I swear it wasn’t me. As you can see, I was in New York,” he wrote in a post accompanying the video. “To the hardworking Blackpool Police, good luck with the investigation.”

Husseni, of Slough, Berkshire, is accused of stealing items including a coat, a phone and a wallet from the Mr Basrai’s World Cuisines buffet restaurant in Blackpool.

He was arrested over the incident by officers from the Metropolitan Police in Southall, southwest London, in November.

Additional reporting by PA