Drones and police dogs help arrest man after car flips following series of crashes

The drama unfolded when a car was reported to have collided with “multiple” other cars and flipped over.

Police were called out, and took the drone and dog teams with them. When they got there, they found the car on its side was missing a driver - and so the drone, equipped with a thermal imaging camera, was sent up to look for signs of life.

It spotted someone, and so the officers on the ground and the dogs raced towards them. During the chase the suspect tried to hide by burrowing in a hedge - but with the drone relaying his position to those pursuing him, he was soon found and decided to climb out from under the bush and gave himself up to an officer and his police dog.

The 54-year-old man was then arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and failing to stop after a road accident.

Believing he could also be under the influence of alcohol, police asked the man to complete a breathalyser test, which he failed. Based on this, he was additionally arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.

Sergeant Danielle Richardson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a great example of our different policing teams working in tandem to get a positive result in rapid time.

“Our response team was initially called to reports a car had been involved in a collision and was on its side in the middle of the road. After quickly realising the driver had fled from the scene, the officers wasted no time at all in spreading out to search the area, with the help of the drone and dog teams.

“That rapid response ultimately resulted in a suspect being identified, with the already airborne drone then guiding the officers on the ground to his position. Thanks to some great communication between the teams, the individual was left with no alternative but to come out from a hedge where he was hiding so he could be arrested.”

The crash happened at about 9.50pm on Monday in Woodfield Road, Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire.