Five additional individuals have been arrested as part of the investigation into a wrong-way crash on the A66 in Middlesbrough, which claimed the lives of seven people, including two police officers. This brings the total number of arrests to 17.
Cleveland Police stated that a 16-year-old boy, an 18-year-old man, and a 21-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group. A 55-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, and a 23-year-old man on suspicion of making threats to kill. All five remain in custody.
The crash, which occurred at 03:39 BST on Saturday, involved a Volkswagen Passat travelling the wrong way on the A66 at South Bank and a Cleveland Police armed response vehicle. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) reported that officers had been pursuing the Passat for almost seven minutes due to its connection to alleged criminal activity, but the pursuit was abandoned 10 seconds before the collision.
The seven people killed in the crash were PC Tom Clough, 38, PC Matthew Blades, 37, Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jacob Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, and Cole Robert Worthy, 17. Two men have been charged in connection with the investigation.