This is the amazing moment Pancho the police dog manages to sniff out car thieves in a scrap metal yard after a terrifying 100mph car chase.
Shocking dash-cam video shows officers having bottles of alcohol and tools hurled at their car as they followed a stolen vehicle in Wolverhampton on November 11 last year.
The Ford Fiesta can be seen driving through red lights and on the wrong side of the road as it reached 100mph along 30mph residential streets.
This is the amazing moment Pancho the police dog manages to sniff out car thieves in a scrap metal yard after a terrifying 100mph car chase
After abandoning the car two men entered a large scrapyard and hid among the 100 vehicles before being pursued by PC Dan Benton and his dog Pancho.
Body-worn cameras capture Pancho, two-year-old Belgian Malinois, leading his handler through the maze of wrecked cars to burglar Callum Hopson, 20.
The whimpering suspect can be heard pleading ‘I’m only a kid’ before his 26-year-old brother Jamie Hopson also crawled from his hiding place.
Body-worn cameras capture Pancho, two-year-old Belgian Malinois, leading his handler through the maze of wrecked cars to burglar Callum Hopson, 20
Police also arrested the driver of the stolen car Morgan McTaggart, 20, and 18-year-old passenger Ashley Greatrex.
A court heard the gang had earlier forced open shutters at a newsagents in Willenhall, and made off with £1,000 worth of tobacco plus alcohol and cash.
A police patrol unit picked up the Fiesta – stolen from Murdock Drive, Kingswinford, four days earlier – in Sedgley town centre shortly after the break-in.
Disqualified driver McTaggart jumped red lights and reached speeds of 100mph as his passengers hurled stolen bottles of booze and hammers at the response car.
At one stage McTaggart, drove on the wrong side of a dual carriageway and thought he’d given his police pursuers the slip.
Pictured: Jamie Hopson (left), 26, and his brother Callum Hopson (right), 20
Pictured: The driver of the stolen car Morgan McTaggart (left), 20, and 18-year-old passenger Ashley Greatrex (right)
However, the officers’ local knowledge led them to the car’s dumping ground where they were arrested.
All four went on to admit the shop burglary.
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McTaggart, of Wolverhampton, also admitted aggravated vehicle taking and driving while banned,
Jamie Hopson also pleaded guilty to taking the Fiesta without consent and driving while disqualified.
Pancho’s handler, PC Benton, said: ‘She tracked a scent from the fencing into the yard’
McTaggart was jailed for 34 months and Jamie Hopson, of no fixed address, was caged for 30 months at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Monday.
Callum Hopson, of Wolverhampton, and Greatrex, from Bilston, were jailed for 27 months and 15 months respectively.
Pancho’s handler, PC Benton, said: ‘She tracked a scent from the fencing into the yard.
‘There must have been around 100 cars in there but she was paying particular attention to one row.
‘I couldn’t see anything but she was insistent. Pancho jumped on the bonnet of one of the cars and started indicating at the door.
Shocking dash-cam video shows officers having bottles of alcohol and tools hurled at their car as they followed a stolen vehicle in Wolverhampton on November 11 last year
Pictured: Pancho the police dog as a puppy
‘That’s when I spotted a pair of legs sticking out from underneath a pile of car seats.
‘I threatened to release the dog and, unsurprisingly, the lad came out and quickly followed by another chap who was hiding nearby.
‘It was all Pancho’s work, she sniffed them out.’
Pancho is poignantly named after Detective Constable Andrew Taylor, who died in 2018.
A force spokesperson added: ‘He was known as Pancho to his colleagues in West Midlands Police.
‘We’re sure DC Taylor would have been proud at Pancho’s determination to catch the crooks.’
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