Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe breaks off from BBC radio spot in Tottenham to help minicab driver chase down alleged thief

It might have been a long time since the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, was a beat officer but old habits seemingly die hard, with the nation's top police officer interrupting a radio interview on Monday to chase a group of suspected thieves who fled from a taxi.

The 57-year-old was recording an interview for BBC London radio at around 11.20am on Monday in Tottenham, north London, when he broke off to assist a minicab driver, who reportedly said his passengers had refused to pay a fare and stolen money from the car's dashboard.

According to a police statement the driver stopped and asked Hogan-Howe and another officer for help, at which point four men jumped out of the cab and ran away.

The group was followed on foot by the unnamed officer accompanying the commissioner, and a 17-year-old was arrested at nearby Bruce Grove train station on suspicion of theft, handling stolen goods and making off without payment.

Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe (far side, just out of view) and another Met officer set off in pursuit of a suspect midway through a radio interview. Photograph: BBC London/PA

Armed with descriptions of the other suspects, Hogan-Howe got into a police car, which had arrived at the scene, and joined the hunt for the other men. He then arrested one of the suspects, a 19-year-old held on suspicion of theft and making off without payment. Both arrested men are currently in north London police stations.

Hogan-Howe, the police statement added, has now made an arrest in every rank he has held since becoming an officer in 1979.

He spent four years working as an NHS lab assistant before joining South Yorkshire police aged 22, where he was talent spotted and sent to study for an MA at Oxford University.

He was later an assistant chief constable and then chief constable at Merseyside police, also being assistant commissioner at the Met and part of the Inspectors of Constabulary, before becoming commissioner in 2011.