A66 Middlesbrough crash kills seven including two officers: 24 arrested

A head-on collision on the A66 near Middlesbrough killed seven people, including two Cleveland Police officers. A total of 24 people have since been arrested as part of a wider organised crime operation.

Seven dead after wrong-way crash on A66 triggers major organised crime probe

Google News IE — Crime (en) reports that 24 people have been arrested as part of a broad police operation against organised crime, following a fatal head-on collision on the A66 dual carriageway near Middlesbrough that claimed seven lives, including those of two serving police officers.

A Volkswagen Passat carrying five young men struck an oncoming marked Cleveland Police vehicle at approximately 03:39 BST on Saturday 22 August. The collision occurred at South Bank, where the Passat was travelling the wrong way along the carriageway.

PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, both died at the scene. All five occupants of the Passat — Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, and 17-year-olds Theo Rae and Cole Robert Worthy — also died.

Cleveland Police said it had received multiple reports of two vehicles being driven dangerously through the town in the hours before the crash. A Volvo XC60 was separately reported to have rammed properties in the area.

Arrests followed swiftly. On Monday 24 August, 12 people were taken into custody in connection with the crash; a further five were arrested later the same day, including on suspicion of membership of an organised crime group. On Friday 28 August, seven more individuals were arrested on suspicion of offences ranging from criminal damage with intent to endanger life to making threats to kill.

A further incident on the evening of Sunday 30 August — in which one vehicle rammed another on Derwentwater Road, between Grangetown and Eston — led to three additional arrests the following day. Police said further arrests were made after that Sunday ramming incident as well.

Cleveland Police confirmed that a total of 24 people had been arrested as part of the wider operation targeting organised crime linked to the events surrounding the crash.

Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)