A fleeing suspect was chased through the darkness by a police dog and detained outside Bestwood Country Park.
Officers from the roads policing unit began following a car in Moorgreen at around 11.40pm on Thursday which then failed to stop.
The vehicle was abandoned at the end of Wigwam Lane, Hucknall, around ten minutes later and a suspect fled along a footpath towards the park.
With the man well ahead of pursuing officers, Police Dog Seth was deployed and soon caught up with his target.
With Seth’s handler following closely behind, the suspect – realising he had no hope of outrunning the dog – quickly gave himself up.
A 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, failing to stop, drink driving, drug driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.
He was later released on conditional bail.
Thursday’s result was a the latest in a growing list of successful collars for Police Dog Seth, who only became operational in the new year.
The 18-month-old Belgian Malinois excelled at tracking suspects during training and he put his well-trained nose to excellent use during this incident.
Inspector Tim Ringer, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“This was a textbook bit of police dog work by Seth and his handler.
“With darkness all around and a suspect comfortably out of pursuing officers’ sight, Seth had to use his exceptional sense of smell – as well as his natural speed – to achieve this result.
“Without him and his handler it seems unlikely this suspect would have been detained so quickly.
“Seth is still very young in service but has got off to a truly exceptional start with us, and I will continue to watch his progress with great interest.”
