Officers found two suspects lying under cars after rapidly responding to reports a van was being broken into.
Having been called about the potential theft in progress, police took just four minutes to arrive and take action.
Response officers immediately spotted two men who aroused their suspicions as they pulled onto Trinstead Way, Bestwood.
One of the individuals was then seen to make a run for it, before trying unsuccessfully to evade officers by wriggling underneath a parked car.
The 31-year-old man was subsequently pulled back out, helped to his feet and detained by police, just after 1.20am on Thursday (27 November).
Having been arrested on suspicion of theft from a motor vehicle, he was additionally arrested for possession of Class A drugs after cocaine was found.
While this was going on, officers continued to scour the nearby area and used torches they were carrying to look under other parked cars in the vicinity.
This tactic quickly resulted in another man being discovered lying face down underneath another vehicle.
Believing he could be involved in the incident they’d been called about, police also arrested the 49-year-old man on suspicion of theft from a motor vehicle.
Sergeant Ash Taylor, of Nottinghamshire Police, said:
“A parked van had been broken into as our officers arrived at the scene, although we don’t believe anything was taken from it.
“The speed which our officers responded to this incident was partly the reason for that, while it was certainly responsible for us quickly identifying two fleeing suspects.
“Those in attendance then did a great job of tracking two suspects down in the dark when they decided to lie down under separate parked cars.”
