Swimming police dog locates suspects in flooded tunnel

A police dog sniffed out two suspects after following his nose and swimming towards a flooded tunnel.

PD Jax was on patrol with his handler when a vehicle driving on suspected cloned plates drove away from police in Mansfield.

The vehicle was spotted in Southwell Road East at about 10am on Wednesday, before it was pursued towards Crown Farm Way and abandoned in a field.

Officers began a search of the area and called in PD Jax for help.

With his handler wading through waist deep water and Jax swimming on his lead ahead, two suspects were soon located partially submerged in a concrete tunnel at the bottom of a brook.

With officers guarding both ends of the tunnel, the cold and wet suspects came out a short time later.

A 35-year-old man has since been charged with dangerous driving, criminal damage, driving without insurance, driving whilst disqualified and fraudulently using a registration mark.

A 19-year-old man was also arrested at the scene and has been released on police bail.

Sergeant Nicholas Dachtler,  of Nottinghamshire Police’s Dog Unit, said:

“This was another great example of what dogs like Jax can do and just how sensitive their noses are.

“Even when suspects are partially submerged in water, it is extremely unlikely they will avoid the attention of our dogs for long.”