Police dog stabbed in the face by men escaping crashed stolen car

A police dog and an officer were stabbed in the face by two thugs who crashed a stolen car.

The overturned car was empty when PC Catherine Maunder-Green, PC Jennie Ellse, and Quantum the police dog arrived at the scene.

Dwain Claude West, 25, and Nathan Whyler, 29 had just gone on a violent rampage and crashed the stolen car in Top Valley, Nottinghamshire, on March 15.

Two police officers have relived the terrifying moment they were stabbed in the face and slashed with a knife while trying to arrest two violent criminals. PC Jennie Ellse, 42, a dog handler, and PC Catherine Maunder-Green, 40, arrived at the scene of an overturned car in Ridgeway, Top Valley, Nottinghamshire, on March 15, unaware of the violence that would follow. The car was empty and two men were seen running away from the crash towards a local school. The dramatic scenes unfolded after PC Ellse's police dog, Quantum, found the culprits hiding in a nearby bush. Dwain Claude West, 25, and Nathan Whyler, 29 had led a violent rampage overnight across the city and hid after crashing the stolen car.
Quantum the police dog was stabbed in his face (Picture: Nottingham Post / BPM Media)
Two police officers have relived the terrifying moment they were stabbed in the face and slashed with a knife while trying to arrest two violent criminals. PC Jennie Ellse, 42, a dog handler, and PC Catherine Maunder-Green, 40, arrived at the scene of an overturned car in Ridgeway, Top Valley, Nottinghamshire, on March 15, unaware of the violence that would follow. The car was empty and two men were seen running away from the crash towards a local school. The dramatic scenes unfolded after PC Ellse's police dog, Quantum, found the culprits hiding in a nearby bush. Dwain Claude West, 25, and Nathan Whyler, 29 had led a violent rampage overnight across the city and hid after crashing the stolen car.
The thugs crashed the stolen car after going on a violent rampage across Nottinghamshire (Picture: Nottingham Post / BPM Media)

They were seen running away from the crash towards a local school, and the officers gave chase.

The violence unfolded when Quantum found the men hiding in a bush nearby and they launched a viscous knife attack, slashing PC Ellse’s hand and stabbing PC Maunder-Green in the face.

Quantum was brutally stabbed in the face as he tried to stop them escaping. He was left needing nine stitches to heal the wound.

PC Maunder-Green, 40, was just a few months into the job at the time, and said: ‘I was trying to grab the man on the fence so he couldn’t get away and then all of a sudden he lashed out and I thought he had punched me in the nose.

‘I carried on trying to apprehend him and then he lashed out again and this time I felt a sharp pain and felt blood running down my face. That was the moment I realised he wasn’t punching me, he was stabbing me.

Nathan Whyler, 29, and Dwain Claude West, 25, stabbed two officers and a police dog (Picture: Nottingham Post / BPM Media)

‘I suddenly had tunnel vision and my hearing went and all I could think was “I’ve been stabbed” and while I was thinking that he had gained a vital few seconds to get away.

‘I was able to catch the second man though who I arrested and the man who got away was arrested shortly afterwards.’

Dog handler PC Ellse, 42, who has been in the force for 16 years, said she will always remember the violent attack.

She said: ‘While they were in the bush we tried to grab them and I saw one of the men go for Quantum’s face and I thought he was hitting him but then

‘I looked at the way his hand was shaped and I realised he was actually jabbing him with a knife.

Two police officers have relived the terrifying moment they were stabbed in the face and slashed with a knife while trying to arrest two violent criminals. PC Jennie Ellse, 42, a dog handler, and PC Catherine Maunder-Green, 40, arrived at the scene of an overturned car in Ridgeway, Top Valley, Nottinghamshire, on March 15, unaware of the violence that would follow. The car was empty and two men were seen running away from the crash towards a local school. The dramatic scenes unfolded after PC Ellse's police dog, Quantum, found the culprits hiding in a nearby bush. Dwain Claude West, 25, and Nathan Whyler, 29 had led a violent rampage overnight across the city and hid after crashing the stolen car.
PC Catherine Maunder-Green, 40, and PC Jennie Ellse, 42, have been awarded for their bravery (Picture: Nottingham Post / BPM Media)
Two police officers have relived the terrifying moment they were stabbed in the face and slashed with a knife while trying to arrest two violent criminals. PC Jennie Ellse, 42, a dog handler, and PC Catherine Maunder-Green, 40, arrived at the scene of an overturned car in Ridgeway, Top Valley, Nottinghamshire, on March 15, unaware of the violence that would follow. The car was empty and two men were seen running away from the crash towards a local school. The dramatic scenes unfolded after PC Ellse's police dog, Quantum, found the culprits hiding in a nearby bush. Dwain Claude West, 25, and Nathan Whyler, 29 had led a violent rampage overnight across the city and hid after crashing the stolen car. CAPTION: PC Jennie Ellse, 42, a dog handler with Quantum
Dog handler PC Jennie Ellse and Quantum are back in action for Nottinghamshire Police (Picture: Nottingham Post / BPM Media)

‘I didn’t actually realise I had been slashed in the hand until afterwards. My glove had been completely slashed and if I hadn’t been wearing gloves it could have been a completely different story.’

All three of their wounds have now healed and Quantum is back on the front line.

But he has become more protective of PC Ellse.

Nathan Whyler was jailed for 12 years in October and Dwain West was given 15 years.

At the time of the sentencing, Detective Inspector Gareth Harding said: ‘In my 17 years in the police I have never seen two people commit such a violent series of crimes in such a short space of time.’

Now the brave pair who arrested West and Whyler have been awarded for their selfless actions with a Ged Walker Award at the Nottinghamshire Police Awards on Wednesday.

The Ged Walker Award is presented in memory of PC Ged Walker, who died in 2003 after he was fatally injured by a stolen taxi as he attempted to remove the keys from the ignition.