“But the cop’s mind would not consider Soapy”. What did the cop not consider, and why?

The cops didn’t consider Soapy as the men who break windows because if he had broken the window, he would not have stopped there to talk to the cops. He would have ran away from there on seeing the cops. Moreover, the cop had also seen a man further along the street, running from there. So, they ran after him instead of catching Soapy.

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