A suspected runaway driver was tracked through water by a police dog and arrested.
Police Dog Rocket and his handler were on patrol in the early hours of Monday morning when a car drove away from officers on the A1.
Shortly after 2.15am the vehicle was abandoned in Hawton Lane, Newark, before a suspect was reported as jumping into a small stream by the side of the road.
With darkness all around, Rocket waded through the water and tracked down a man in a cramped drainage tunnel near Balderton Lake.
A 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, failing to stop, drug driving, going equipped for theft, driving without a licence, driving without insurance and intentional strangulation.
Rocket, a two year-old Belgian Malinois, joined Nottinghamshire Police in June last year and has repeatedly impressed officers with his ability to track suspects in all conditions.
Sergeant Nick Dachtler, of the force’s dog section, said: “Rocket is a great little dog who is going from strength-to-strength under the care of an experienced handler.
“He’s actually one of our smallest general-purpose animals, but what he lacks in bulk he certainly makes up for with his bravery, rapid pace and exceptional nose.”
Nottinghamshire Police currently operates with 24 highly trained police dogs – a mixture of general-purpose animals like Rocket, and specialist sniffer dogs trained to locate a variety of substances.
Handlers usually work with both types of dog and are each trained in advanced driving techniques.
