On 24 October 2018, Blackpool Police appealed to the public for help identifying a man caught on CCTV carrying a crate of beer—immediately sparking viral attention due to the suspect’s uncanny resemblance to Friends actor David Schwimmer. The image, shared on the police force’s Facebook page, drew widespread amusement and thousands of show-related comments. The post gained even more traction when Schwimmer himself responded with a tongue-in-cheek video. Mimicking the suspect’s actions in a New York store, he furtively glanced at a camera while carrying beer, captioning the video: “Officers, I swear it wasn’t me. As you can see, I was in New York. To the hardworking Blackpool Police, good luck with the investigation.”
Despite confirming early on that the Hollywood actor was not in the UK at the time of the incident, the post turned into an online quote-fest, racking up over 133,000 comments filled with Friends references. The light-hearted moment eventually led to a serious conclusion.
On 15 August 2019, the actual culprit, Abdulah Husseini, aged 36, was sentenced to nine months in prison at Burnley Crown Court. Husseini, described by prosecutors as a “wandering, nomadic thief,” had used a stolen bank card to make or attempt several fraudulent transactions in Blackpool. The viral CCTV image that initially caused the stir was central to the investigation and eventual arrest.
Background image shows main cast of Friends TV Series 1994 – 2004 USA Season 10 Created by David Crane, Marta Kauffman Jennifer Aniston , Courteney Cox , Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer. Image shot 1994.

Abdulah Husseini on the left and the real David Schwimmer on the right.
Featured Image © Blackpool Police & David Schwimmer
Background Image © Alamy
Text source: The BBC website