Residents in Doncaster had the resourcefulness of Digby the police dog to thank after two men were arrested in connection with the theft of a stolen vehicle during the early hours of February, Friday 13th. The vehicle, an Audi A4, was later found abandoned almost an hour later, having been discovered on Swallow Court some miles away from its original location on Lambeth Road in Balby.
After some initial difficulties, the investigation finally yielded some results when PC Brain Grange, a veteran dog handler, was brought in along with police dog Digby, a German Shephard. Within 20 minutes, Digby had picked up the scent of the guilty party and tracked it to a flat over half a mile away on Wilkinson Avenue, New Rossington.
Soon, support in the form of more police officers quickly converged on the flat, gained access and arrested the two occupants.
The men, aged 23 and 24 respectively, were charged with a multitude of offenses ranging from suspicion of burglary to aggravated TWOC (taking a vehicle without consent), and are both currently on bail pending a further police enquiries.
This incident once again underlined the vital importance of the role that police dogs and their handlers play in law enforcement, often acting decisively to root out the culprits of a particular crime.