Three police forces and a helicopter came together after a car was stolen at knifepoint in Stoke-on-Trent. Now three suspects – all from the Potteries – have been arrested over the late-night robbery in Sandyford.
Pilots with the National Police Air Service (NPAS) have shared footage of the moment the trio were caught in woodland by a dog handler. The incident had unfolded on Monday night at around 11.30pm when a man in his 20s was sat in the driver’s seat of his Skoda Octovia on Sandy Road when he was ‘approached by a group of people’ who then threatened him with a knife.
The man ‘left the scene’ and the car was driven off. Staffordshire Police say that a short time later the Skoda ‘came to a stop’ on the northbound carriageway of the M6 at Junction 19 for Knutsford.
Footage from NPAS shows the suspects being tracked down
Officers with the force’s road crime team (RCT) linked up with Cheshire Police, a dog handler from Merseyside Police, and NPAS. Footage captured from the chopper shows it circling over woodland before three people are then confronted by a police dog.
The Staffordshire force says a 17-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, drug driving, failing to stop when required by a constable, and robbery; a 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, drug driving, failing to provide a specimen for analysis and robbery, and a 20-year-old woman, was arrested on suspicion of aggravated vehicle taking, dangerous driving and robbery.
A spokeswoman said: “All three have been released on conditional police bail while our enquiries continue.”
Witnesses, or anyone with relevant CCTV or dashcam footage, should call the constabulary on 101 and quote incident 751 of January 13.
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