A police video captures the moment two late-night suspected machinery thieves were chased away by a police drone. Officers were called to a building site near Bircotes by security guards who spotted the suspects prowling the perimeter of the site at around 11.30pm on Sunday, April 2.
A drone was launched shortly afterwards and soon caught sight of the suspects from more than a quarter-of-a-mile away. In the video. the suspects can be seen fleeing the scene on a quad bike they had been using.
Investigations are ongoing but is believed the suspects may have been seeking to steal plant machinery and fuel from the site near Snape Lane. Sergeant Vince Saunders, chief pilot at Nottinghamshire Police’s drone team, said: “This is another great example of the power of our drone technology.
“Security guards on the site suspected there were people lurking nearby but were unable to see them through the darkness. The pilot in this case was first able to track the suspects down using an infrared camera before moving in for a closer look.
“Along the way they were able to record some very strong images that will help our investigation moving forward. “
Inspector Hayley Crawford, District Commander for Bassetlaw, said: “Criminals target our rural communities because they mistakenly believe they are a soft touch. As this case demonstrates, this is simply not the case. We are working hard with local partners to provide best possible response to those who travel to our area to commit crime.
“The good news is we now have more officers at our disposal, and more resources than in the recent past, and access to a wide range of specialist equipment to help us do our job.”
Anyone with more information about this incident is asked to call 101 quoting incident 759 of 2 April.
READ NEXT:
