Thief swims the Thames to escape police – so a police dog tows an officer after him on the bike he dumped
Officers in Windsor chased a wanted man by foot, boat and 'dog-powered bicycle' after he cycled off and then swam across the River Thames. Police are calling it the Great Windsor Triathlon.
Most triathletes train for months. This one had about an hour’s notice and no intention of finishing.
Officers from Thames Valley Police’s Windsor Central neighbourhood team were looking for a 51-year-old man wanted over three alleged breaches of his bail conditions, less than 24 hours after a court had released him. After an hour of searching they spotted him, and he was off on a stolen bicycle.
Windsor Castle from The Brocas, Eton. Photo: Sean Davis / CC BY-SA 2.0 (Geograph).
He ditched the bike, which a PCSO grabbed so he couldn’t use it again, and then swam across the River Thames. Undeterred, the PCSO flagged down a passing boat and carried on the chase by water.
AI illustration. (Spot Gaz, our gorilla, hiding somewhere on the boat.)
Then came the cycling leg. A dog handler borrowed the abandoned bike and let Police Dog Chief do the work. “I was pulled along husky and sledge style,” the handler said, “which needless to say required no pedalling from me.” Dog and handler caught up with the man, who was arrested. According to the Daily Mail, he then asked whether the dog had been on the bike, and asked Chief: “Did you enjoy your swim?”
AI illustration.
Police said their video of the chase looked “slightly ridiculous” but insisted nothing had been exaggerated. “Neighbourhood policing,” they said. “Apparently now by land, water and dog-powered bicycle.” The man later admitted shop theft, theft of a bicycle, assault and outraging public decency, and on 19 October was given an 18-month community order at Reading Magistrates’ Court.
Reported by BBC News, with details from ITV News Meridian, the Maidenhead Advertiser and the Daily Mail.
