A man has been arrested after a “strange” pursuit in which a quick thinking cop swapped his police car for a bicycle before the arrest of a man for theft of a vehicle
Yesterday, Wednesday 10 April, around 7:15pm, an officer from the Proactive Roads Policing Team requested the driver of a white Range Rover Evoque to stop on Dalton Lane.
The driver failed to stop, and a ‘strange’ pursuit commenced through Parkgate, Rotherham.
The driver was witnessed to reverse down 60mph roads, drive at speeds of 80mph in a 30mph area and drive the wrong way round a roundabout, before crashing and fleeing.
After running from the scene, the officer focused his efforts on catching one of the two suspects.
Running after the suspect, a member of the public who had witnessed the incident offered the officer his bicycle, saying ‘go get em!’. The officer was quickly on the bike and cycling after the man.
The suspect climbed a fence and was eventually detained in a garden on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle.
Further enquiries have led to officers believing the car was stolen last week from the Nottinghamshire area and the suspect to be the nominated person responsible for a robbery, in which £90,000 of jewellery was taken.
Roads Policing Inspector Matt Collings said: “This job is a great example of the dedication and commitment of officers to catch those responsible for crimes and how sometimes, a simple routine traffic stop can lead to greater finds.
“Those involved in criminality are more likely to take further risks on our roads and pose a danger to innocent members of the public, our role as roads policing officers is to intercept their criminality and reduce that risk.
“A huge thank you to the member of the public who leant our officer their bike, knowing we have the support of our communities is a great feeling.”
The man arrested, aged 25, remains in police custody at this time.
The second suspect, believed to be the driver of the car remains outstanding
Anyone with information is asked to report online, via live chat or by calling 101 quoting incident number 805 of 10 April 2024.
