A large quantity of suspected stolen cable was recovered after a truck’s tyres were stung by pursuing officers.
Police were called in the early hours of Wednesday morning (21 October) after cabling was reported stolen from a site near Northampton.
A suspicious truck was identified shortly before 3.45am and followed from the scene by local officers.
As the vehicle made its way north towards Nottinghamshire, a plan was put in place to intercept it and bring it to a safe stop.
Shortly after 5am, the vehicle was successfully stopped using a tyre-deflating stinger device as it left the A46 and joined the A606.
After initially failing to stop, the driver pulled over and fled the scene along with three other suspects.
Three men were detained in quick succession by armed response officers Nottinghamshire officers, who are also advanced drivers trained in tactical pursuit and containment.
A fourth was tracked down and detained with the assistance of a police dog.
The four men, aged 36, 33, 30 and 29, were arrested on suspicion of theft and driving offences and have since been released on police bail pending further enquiries.
The truck and its contents were seized.
Detective Inspector Jamie Moore, head of Roads Policing at Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“This was an excellent example of cross-border working, involving multiple officers on the ground working in partnership with control room colleagues.
“Our highly trained drivers are well practised in this kind of tactical pursuit and containment operation involving all types of vehicles.
“I am pleased that, in this case, they were able to bring this truck to a controlled stop, protect the public from harm and recover a large quantity of what we believe to be stolen cabling.”
