Officers went full-steam ahead to chase and catch a wanted man after they stopped a car.
In tonight’s brand new episode of Police Interceptors, Sergeant James Carrington and Police Constable Lisa Desantis spot a dodgy car which catches their eye. After some time monitoring it, and seeing some questionable driving, they decided to pull it over in Station Street, Nottingham city centre.
However, when the car pulled over a passenger jumped out of the car and began to run away.
James switched four wheels for two feet and pushed to keep up with the suspect, running across a busy city centre until they got to London Road, where time ran out for the man and he was detained.
Following a number of enquiries, the man was found to be wanted for failing to appear at court in December 2020, where he was due to answer to a number of driving offences. Officers also recovered an amount of suspected cannabis and ketamine.
The 42-year-old was subsequently arrested on suspicion of failing to appear at court following the incident on Friday 27 August 2021.
Appearing at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court the next day, was sentenced to six weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, in relation to the previous driving offences which happened in 2020.
He was also ordered to pay £250 in court costs and £122 victim surcharge after being found of driving whilst disqualified and speeding.
He was also reported for the possession of class B drugs and the investigation remains ongoing into the reported recovery.
Meanwhile, officers conducted checks on the driver and were led to believe that his licence had expired. As a result of this, the car was seized and the driver was reported, resulting in a £100 fine.
Recalling the stop, Sergeant Carrington said: “This is a prime example of the intuition we build up and how being proactive and stopping a vehicle could potentially be a lead into a wider investigation or, as we did in this case, result in bringing a wanted person back into custody.
“On stopping the car, we fully expected to be talking to the driver about his manner on the road, but this quickly turned into a foot chase.
“As soon as we spotted the passenger running, I as the passenger in our police vehicle jumped straight out and of course wanted to make sure we didn’t lose sight of him. It’s no secret that people run from police for a reason, and when this happens our job and responsibility is to find out what that reason is.
“It can be a challenge, as we have a significant amount of gear on us compared to those running who usually have nothing weighing them down. Thankfully, we caught up with him quite quickly. After talking to him, we discovered he was due at court for previous incidents, so we wasted no time in detaining him and bringing him back to custody.
“It is legally binding if someone is called to court and anyone who fails to appear will be made known to us so we can detain them if they are seen and their identity is confirmed.
“As well as this, we did also find that the driver of the car was showing an expired licence, so ensured this was dealt with as well. A licence is required for a reason and it helps to ensure all road users are safe by making sure drivers pass a certain standard.
“Driving whilst disqualified, or driving without a valid licence, is a concern to us and we will make sure people who do this are dealt with appropriately.”
The episode also follows a pursuit where a Mercedes reaches speeds of 150 mph, and the knife crime team use their intuition when they stop a red-light runner and find drugs hidden in his car.
All this and more is featured in brand new Police Interceptors at 8pm on Channel 5.
