Officers, I swear it wasn't me.
— schwim (@DavidSchwimmer) October 24, 2018
As you can see, I was in New York.
To the hardworking Blackpool Police, good luck with the investigation.#itwasntme pic.twitter.com/EDFF9dZoYR
Update, 5pm 24th October: This is the news story that keeps on giving – the real Ross just waded in to clear up any confusion about his involvement in a Blackpool theft that sparked an avalanche of Friends quotes on Wednesday morning.
"Officers, I swear it wasn't me," tweeted David Schwimmer, complete with the hashtag #itwasntme, on Wednesday afternoon. "As you can see, I was in New York. To the hardworking Blackpool Police, good luck with the investigation." So. Good.
Originally story follows.
Could this news story be any more random? Blackpool police are looking for a man who looks eerily similar to Ross from Friends – and the easily amused people of social media have responded accordingly.
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On Tuesday, Blackpool police force shared a CCTV image on Facebook of the man, pictured carrying a crate of beer, in relation to a theft on 20th September. And it's true – he looks shockingly similar to everyone's favourite palaeontologist.
The comedy reactions comparing him to David Schwimmer rolled in almost immediately – even compelling the force to clarify that the actor was in the US on the day of the crime.
"Thank you to everyone for your speedy responses," the police wrote in the comments. "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."
Judging by many of the incredibly niche Friends references people came up with – and in such rapid time – it seems many of us have spent (too) much of 2018 in front of the sitcom on Netflix. Some reeled off well-known Ross quotes, while others brought up minor plotlines.
More than 104k people have commented and almost 70k have shared the force's post at the time of writing. One Scottish police force even got in on the act, with officers in Dumfries and Galloway sharing the image and warning members of the public to "keep away" from the man.
"He is known to have studied Karate and we believe he has mastered the art of Unagi, the state of total awareness," they quipped.
Now, the fun has spread to Twitter and even inspired some eager Friends fans to open Photoshop and search for the most appropriate GIFs.
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The One Where Ross Brings The Beers @BlackpoolPolice @FriendsTV @DavidSchwimmer #friends #davidschwimmer pic.twitter.com/w7ec7mwzfH
— Andy Cowell (@TheAndyCowell) October 24, 2018
it isn’t ross....it’s russ pic.twitter.com/ClDMLL9ZNr
— frankie stein (@veIvetchanel) October 24, 2018
Honestly, the Ross-from-Friends lookalike robber story might be my favourite of 2018 pic.twitter.com/o0LEdKUbMZ
— Declan Cashin Big Dec Energy (@Tweet_Dec) October 24, 2018
"Ross from Friends lookalike hunted by Blackpool police" @DavidSchwimmer right now... pic.twitter.com/awbg5uIPlJ
— Comedy Central UK (@ComedyCentralUK) October 24, 2018
Anyone with information on the (real) alleged crime can contact 7798@lancashire.pnn.police.uk quoting log LC-20180920-0670.