A66 Crash Spurs 20-Plus Arrests as Middlesbrough Fears Organised Crime Is Out of Control
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 4
A66 Crash Spurs 20-Plus Arrests as Middlesbrough Fears Organised Crime Is Out of Control
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 4
Summary
More than 20 people have been arrested around Middlesbrough since the A66 crash that killed two police officers and five young men, as police widen an operation into serious and organised crime.
Saturday's crash followed a police pursuit after a Volkswagen Passat drove the wrong way on the A66 and hit a police vehicle head-on, killing PCs Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough, 38, along with all five occupants.
Police sources say two feuding gangs are central to a recent spike in violence, with investigators examining car rammings, a caravan fire and other attacks apparently used to intimidate and send messages.
Residents in Grangetown, South Bank and Acklam described fear of retaliation and deep distrust of police among local youths, some of whom blamed officers for the deaths and said they would not call police even over knife threats.
More than 200 extra officers have been deployed, but the crackdown is unfolding in some of England's most deprived neighbourhoods, where leaders have long warned that social decline and crime are feeding each other.