Officers attended a street near to the University of Leeds campus on Sunday evening, after a member of the public reported seeing three men slashing bicycle tyres.
The men were "located and detained by security", according to West Yorkshire Police.
A further tweet posted by the Leeds Crime Team said: "It's a funny old game policing.... one of the males transpired to be wanted for a series of burglaries across the city.
"Arrested and will be dealt with this morning by Leeds detectives."