Teenager Among Five Killed After House Attack Sparked Fatal Police Pursuit
The father of a teenage victim of the A66 crash that killed seven people was the target of a car-ramming attack hours before the fatal collision, as police investigate a wave of arrests linked to organised crime.
The fatal crash on the A66 in Middlesbrough that claimed seven lives, including two police officers, is now being investigated as part of a wider organised crime feud, after it emerged that the father of one of the teenage victims had his home rammed by a car hours earlier. Cole Worthy, 17, was one of five young men who died when a Volkswagen Passat, travelling in the wrong direction, collided with a Cleveland Police armed response vehicle in the early hours of Saturday morning. Police have confirmed they are linking the activities of the Passat with a Volvo XC60 seen ramming properties, including the Acklam home of Mr Worthy’s father, who is not suspected of any criminal activity.
The tragic sequence of events began at around 02:00 BST, when neighbours on the quiet residential street reported hearing loud bangs. The Volvo XC60 had smashed the downstairs bay window and an upstairs bedroom window of the semi-detached home. It is understood that Mr Worthy and four other young men set out in the Passat shortly after the attack on his father's house. At 03:39, police received multiple reports of two cars driving dangerously, and the Passat was pursued by officers for almost seven minutes. The pursuit was abandoned just ten seconds before the crash, when the vehicle turned onto the dual carriageway and hit the police car. Both the Passat and the Volvo were operating with cloned number plates but were detected by automated number plate recognition technology.
The crash claimed the lives of Mr Worthy; Michael Robert Cahill, 23; Jacob Matusiak, 23; Makai Saddington, 18; and Theo Rae, 17, as well as PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matthew Blades, 37. In the aftermath, Cleveland Police have launched a major investigation, resulting in a wave of arrests across Teesside. On Monday, nine men and three women, aged between 18 and 61, were arrested on offences including possession of a firearm and participation in an organised crime group. Two men have since been charged: Kai Beattie, 21, with possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and Cameron George, 20, with drug offences and possession of criminal property.
A further five arrests were made on Tuesday, including a 16-year-old boy and two men aged 18 and 21 on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group. A 55-year-old man was held on suspicion of assisting an offender, and a 23-year-old man on suspicion of making threats to kill. Other individuals have been released on bail or remanded in custody as the investigation continues. The Independent Office for Police Conduct is also examining the circumstances of the police pursuit. For the families of the victims and the residents of the quiet street in Acklam, the events of that weekend have left a community in shock and a deepening sense of tragedy.