A man who had failed to appear at court has been arrested following a pursuit in Swindon yesterday.
The suspect had been reported to police after failing to appear at Swindon for a hearing at Swindon Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Police enquiries led us to a vehicle which had been seen at various points around north Swindon and officers located it at The Orbital Retail Park at around 4.45am yesterday morning.
Police tried to speak to the driver but he drove off onto Thamesdown Road and then failed to stop when requested to by police.
A pursuit was authorised and the car was followed for around half an hour, driving around the west of Swindon, out to Hook, down to Royal Wootton Bassett and Broad Hinton, back up towards Swindon before finally coming to a stop in Mill Lane, in West Leaze.
During the pursuit officers used a number of tactics to eventually bring the pursuit to a safe conclusion, following which the driver was arrested having been forcibly removed from the car.
Two officers sustained minor cuts to their hands and arms from broken car windows.
A 50-year-old man from Swindon has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and failing to stop when requested by police.
He is currently in custody at Gablecross Police Station.
Inspector Andy Bridge, from Swindon North Community Policing Team, said: This was a challenging operation for police, mainly due to the length of time the pursuit went on for and the fact that the driver continued to evade officers.
“During the pursuit the vehicle was driven through red lights, was dangerously overtaking other cars and lorries, and could very easily have been involved in a collision.
“It is a testament to the professionalism of the police officers and our colleagues managing the pursuit in our Control Room that nobody was seriously injured and the vehicle was eventually stopped safely.”
