A house damaged by a car moments before the deadly A66 crash belonged to the father of one of the teenage victims. Five young men and two police officers were killed after a Volkswagen Passat, driving on the wrong side of the A-road, crashed into a police vehicle in Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Victim's father's home damaged
Cole Worthy, 17, died alongside four others in the collision, seconds after a police chase was called off. PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matthew Blades, 37, were also killed.
Before the collision, police had been alerted to reports of dangerous driving across Middlesbrough, which have since been linked to the Passat and a Volvo XC60. The Volvo was allegedly seen 'ramming properties' in the town, and the Passat was 'associated' with it, according to police.
One of the damaged homes, a semi-detached on a residential street in Acklam, allegedly belonged to Worthy's dad, BBC News reports. Footage shows the bricks below the downstairs front window collapsed along with a smashed window, with fencing erected around the entrance.
Investigation and arrests
Neighbours, who asked not to be named, told the broadcaster they heard loud bangs at about 2am on Saturday, and that police swarmed the street over the weekend. There is no suggestion that the father was involved in any criminal activity.
Both the Volvo and the Passat had cloned number plates to avoid detection, the police said. Worthy died at the scene of the crash in South Bank with Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jakub Matusiak. Four of the men, except Cahill, had previous convictions, including for motoring offences.
So far, 17 people have been arrested as part of an investigation into the collision. Five people, including a 16-year-old boy and two men aged 18 and 21, were arrested today on suspicion of taking part in an organised crime group. Nine men and three women, aged between 19 and 61, were arrested previously on suspicion of offences including firearm possession and organised crime.
Recent wrong way crashes like the M9 in Kildare, Ireland, have put the spotlight on the social media trend of posting dangerous driving videos. While the A66 crash is said to have no links to filming for social media, Makai Saddington's TikTok allegedly featured clips of him seemingly in police chases.
