They committed different crimes, in different parts of town, but a father and son were reunited when a savvy policeman noticed that they were related.The pair were brought in separately by cops in Sao Paulo state, southeast Brazil - the father for making threats and the son for armed robbery.
Before their chance meeting at the police station in the town of Rio Preto, the father had not seen his son since the boy was one year old.
The young man didn't even know who his father was.
Orival Raimundo de Souza Jr, 18, was arrested on Saturday for holding up a petrol station in Rio Preto 10 days earlier.
When he was taken to the police station and produced his identification, police realised that his father, Orival Raimundo de Souza, 54, had been brought in moments earlier for a different crime.
The father later said: 'It's a very embarrassing situation to finally get to meet him again in the police station. I wanted to tell him not to follow a life of crime, but how could I?'
The son said: 'I had seen this guy on the street but I didn't realize he was my father. But it doesn't matter, he's never done anything for me, he means nothing to me.'
Despite his son's reaction, Orival Sr promised to keep in contact with him.
He said: 'I always wanted to have my son at my side. I'll send a car to pick him up from jail when he's released. I'll explain to him what happened with his mother, I'll try to make amends.'
Read more: The Mail