WATCH: Police dog tracks down dangerous Fiesta driver hiding in woods near Awsworth

The strong senses of canine cops were put to full use as police worked to track down the driver of a dodgy car in last week's Police Interceptors filmed in Nottinghamshire.
The suspect was rumbled by police dog Morse as he tried to hide himself in dense woodland.The suspect was rumbled by police dog Morse as he tried to hide himself in dense woodland.
The suspect was rumbled by police dog Morse as he tried to hide himself in dense woodland.

Police dog Morse was called in after officers saw a Ford Fiesta driving dangerously around Nuthall roundabout on 1 December 2020.

A quick check of the car revealed it was being driven on false plates and after a short trip down the A610 officers in an unmarked car watched as it pulled up in Gin Close Way, Awsworth.

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As it pulled off again, officers attempted to stop the car, but the ‘blues and twos’ had little impact and the man careered around Ilkeston attempting to evade officers.

The pursuit came to a sharp halt, however, when the man crashed into a bank in Millership Way.

Still not prepared to give up, the two men in the car rushed off on foot and into a densely wooded area. This was, however, no match for the sharp senses of PD Morse.

Morse, alongside his handler PC Mark Haywood, quickly got to work, scanning a nearby towpath and within minutes Morse had led Mark to a man hiding in the undergrowth.

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The 18 year-old was subsequently arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, failing to stop for police and possessing a fraudulent item.

PC Haywood said: “The dogs are an absolute asset when it comes to incidents such as this. Their abilities and extremely heightened senses massively increase our capacity to track suspects when they attempt to evade us.

“We got called in to help when officers realised the driver wasn’t going to stop. It is always a possibility that suspects try to ‘decamp’ and run off from us on foot when they can’t match the driving talents of our highly trained officers, and this is where our specially trained canine colleagues come in.

“The area that the two men were believed to have run off to was heavily covered by woodland, and coupled with it being after 9pm and pitch black outside, this presented a number of challenges for the officers on scene. This is where Morse was able to help and work through some of those difficulties.

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“After setting him on the trail, Morse led me to a man hiding in the undergrowth within minutes and made light work of letting me know he was there and detaining him.

“He was then arrested – and a couple of days later officers tracked down and arrested the other man, a 19-year-old.

“This just goes to show that if you try to hide from a police dog, it is in vain. They are highly skilled and intelligent and are very often called upon for instances such as this. It won’t take long for them to find anyone who is on the run from them.”

A few weeks later, after being released, the pair were arrested again following an icy encounter in a stolen Mini.

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After hurtling around the snowy streets of Redhill at speeds of 80mph, they failed to stop for officers, driving on the wrong side of the road.

In their desperation to get away as they reached a dead end, they jumped out of the moving car and ran away, letting it hit a parked car.

Officers caught up with the familiar face and made the arrest, and a charging decision is currently pending.