Twelve people have been arrested as part of the investigation into the A66 crash that killed seven people, including two police officers.
Nine men and three women, aged between 19 and 61, have been arrested across Teesside on suspicion of a range of offences including possession of a firearm and being part of an organised crime group.
In the early hours of Saturday, a Volkswagen Passat that had been pursued by police travelled the wrong way down the A66 near Middlesbrough and crashed into an oncoming police car – two PCs and all five Passat occupants died.
Cleveland Police said it was investigating “serious criminal activity that resulted in this fatal incident”.
PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matthew Blades, 37, died in the crash, as did Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jacob Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, and 17-year-old Cole Robert Worthy.
Earlier, Cleveland Police released more details of its investigation into the lead-up to the crash and information about the 12 people it had arrested.
The force said:
-
It received several reports of two vehicles “being driven dangerously” on Saturday morning
-
The first vehicle, believed to be a Volvo XC60, was seen “ramming properties” in the Middlesbrough area
-
The second vehicle, a Passat, is believed to have been associated with this activity
-
Both vehicles were operating with cloned number plates but were picked up by automated number plate recognition technology
-
The Volvo has been recovered in Middlesbrough
-
Four of the five people in the Passat had previous convictions
Assistant Chief Constable Wayne Fox said the investigation had been “fast moving and complex”.
He said: “The events of that tragic night will have a lasting and profound impact on the Cleveland area and the communities we seek to protect.
“We have a duty to respond to, and thoroughly investigate, the serious criminal activity that resulted in this fatal incident and to bring all those responsible to justice.”