The fourth episode of Nottinghamshire Police on Interceptors launches with a dangerous driving incident which is brought to a head by PC Katie Eustace.
The firearms officer, who heavily features in the Channel 5 show, had accompanied colleagues in a police pursuit after a rental car driver had failed to stop in the Hucknall area.
PC Eustace joined the high-risk pursuit at the Annesley road roundabout where, in her police car, she came head to head with the offending vehicle. She said: “I saw the car start to go the wrong way round the roundabout which would mean it joining the bypass on the wrong side of the road.
“Having heard the incident develop over the radio, I knew that this driver was a person who was willing to take risks and drive in a harmful way. My number one thought was that I needed to stop him carrying on and potentially killing a member of the public.
In the video, Katie can be heard to say: “here we go” as the offending vehicle approaches. She said: “I instantly knew what I needed to do – use my vehicle to bring the pursuit to a conclusion.
“There was a moment where both me and the offender looked at each other and I was thinking is he really going to do this?! Which of course he did resulting in a head-on collision.”
The pursuit happened at around 10.40am on 15 January 2020 after officers had gained intelligence that a car was being driven by a disqualified driver.
Reece Theisen, 27, formerly of Belvoir Street in Hucknall, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving on 17 September and was sentenced to a total of 34 months in prison for dangerous driving, drug offences and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker.
Katie Eustace, 31, joined the force as a response officer in 2009, following in the footsteps of her dad and grandad who also worked for Nottinghamshire Police. She then moved on to CID and now the firearms unit, where she has been for three-and-a-half years.
She said she was drawn to the adrenaline and action: “Pursuits and high risk incidents are part of our daily duties and I definitely enjoy the excitement of being in a high-risk situation but being able to bring it to a safe conclusion and prevent people from harm.
“It’s a very fast-paced, varied job where I get to experience all the different areas within the force and all the different locations as well as work closely with the dog section!
“It’s also great to gain all the training in driving, shooting and all the various tactics needed to conduct our work as safely as possible. I also get to compete for the force in the swimming and lifesaving team which I love doing.”
Katie is slightly out-numbered as the only female on her shift of ten officers. She is also expecting a baby in February next year. She said: “It is funny because I am a girly girl, I like to get my nails and my eyelashes done but my colleagues are way more image-conscious than me!
“I’ve always been the only girl in the team so I’m used to it and they (my colleagues) never make me feel left out. I don’t really like football so tend to tune out when they start talking about it but I make up for it by putting them all to shame in the gym!
“We’re a very close-knit team where we always look out for each other out not just professionally but personally as well and the team constantly pay an interest in my pregnancy, asking me questions and checking that I’m ok which is lovely.”
Tonight’s Interceptors episode also features a suspected car thief detained with the help of the dog section, a suspected drink driver who turns out to be a professional footballer and also follows the knife crime team as they work to stop suspected dealers and others involved in organised crime.
The show is aired every Monday on Channel 5 at 8pm.
