A66 crash probe: 24 arrested as Cleveland Police disrupt organised crime in Middlesbrough

Seven more men arrested in Cleveland Police's organised crime operation following the A66 crash that killed seven people, including two officers.

A66 crash investigation reaches 24 arrests as police target organised crime in Middlesbrough

Cleveland Police have arrested seven more men as part of an ongoing operation to disrupt organised crime linked to the fatal A66 crash, The Independent reports. The total number of arrests connected to the collision — which killed seven people, including two serving police officers — has now reached 24.

Four of the newly arrested men, aged 21, 25, 35 and 40, are being held in custody on suspicion of criminal damage with intent to endanger life, arson, and possession with intent to supply class A drugs. Officers stopped the group in a vehicle on Kingsley Road in Grangetown at 10.30pm on Thursday 27 August. A Mercedes car and class A drugs were seized at the scene.

The arson charge relates to a caravan set alight on Atlee Road in Middlesbrough at 5.30am on Wednesday. The criminal damage allegation concerns a suspected ramming of a garden wall on Steele Crescent in Middlesbrough in the early hours of the previous Sunday.

The three remaining men face separate charges. A 23-year-old was arrested on suspicion of threats to kill. A 42-year-old was detained on suspicion of threats to kill and possession of criminal property. A 30-year-old was held on suspicion of possession of criminal property. All three have since been released on conditional bail. Officers also seized £15,000 in cash during the operation.

Detectives have confirmed they are not linking a separate house fire — which killed a seven-year-old girl and her aunt on Wednesday — to the A66 crash.

Assistant Chief Constable Dave Sutherland said: "Since the tragic incident last Saturday morning in which seven people, including two of our serving police officers, PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough, sadly lost their lives, officers and staff have remained working around the clock to continue to serve the public of Cleveland."

Sutherland added that the house fire on Wednesday, in which two people died, was "also understandably impacting the force and our local communities," but confirmed no link to the A66 collision had been established. "Our thoughts remain with all those affected by these incidents as we continue our investigations into what happened," he said.

Hundreds of additional officers have been drafted in to support Cleveland Police following a series of incidents in the Middlesbrough and County Durham area. The A66 crash — a head-on collision — claimed the lives of PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, along with five young men.

Source: The Independent