Nottinghamshire Police caught up with the brightly coloured vehicle in Nottingham at 1.20am on Thursday, 20 minutes after it was reported stolen.
But when officers then tried to pull over the van, emblazoned with a “super whippy” sign, the vehicle carried on.
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It wasn’t too difficult for officers to spot a pink ice cream van being driven in the middle of the night
Police said the vehicle, also covered in painted cartoon characters, was eventually brought to a halt.
A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, driving without insurance and theft of a van.
Inspector Mark Stanley said: “Clearly this was an unusual getaway vehicle and it wasn’t too difficult for officers to spot a pink ice cream van being driven in the middle of the night.
