A lookalike of “Friends” star David Schwimmer was not there for you — or for his court date.
According to the Guardian, a judge in Blackpool, England, issued an arrest warrant for Abdulah Husseni, a suspected thief whose surveillance footage went viral because he’s the spitting image of Schwimmer’s “Friends” character Ross Geller.
The arrest warrant was issued after Husseni failed to answer court summons on charges of theft and fraud.
Back in October, police in Blackpool were flooded with social media comments when they posted surveillance footage of Husseni with the caption, “Do you recognize this man?” “Friends” fans who thought the thief resembled Schwimmer responded in turn with a litany of quotes from the show.
Police in Scotland even got in on the fun, with the Dumfries Galloway Police Division sending out a Facebook plea saying: “Please approach with caution. He is known to have studied karate and we believe he has mastered the art of Unagi, the state of total awareness.”
Then Schwimmer took the time to clear his name and let Blackpool police he was in New York at the time of the theft, responding with his own video imitating the surveillance footage.
“Officers, I swear it wasn’t me. As you can see, I was in New York,” Schwimmer said on Twitter. “To the hardworking Blackpool police, good luck with the investigation.”
https://twitter.com/DavidSchwimmer/status/1055123896909864966
Thankfully, police in Lancashire were quick to let fans know that Schwimmer himself was not a suspect.
“Thank you to everyone for your speedy responses,” the force said via The Guardian. “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.”
Husseni is 36, far younger than the 51-year-old Schwimmer, but the resemblance in the video is uncanny. According to the Guardian, he was arrested in November in West London in relation to items being stolen from a restaurant in Blackpool in September.