Five more people have been arrested as part of the investigation into the A66 crash that killed two police officers and five other people, bringing the total number of arrests to 17.
The latest arrests were made on Tuesday with the assistance of the National Crime Agency and the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit, Cleveland Police said.
Arrests and charges
A 16-year-old boy, an 18-year-old and a 21-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group. A 55-year-old was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, and a 23-year-old on suspicion of making threats to kill.
Two of the 12 people previously arrested have now appeared in court. Kai Beattie, 19, of Foxrush Court, Redcar, appeared before Teesside Magistrates' Court charged with possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. Cameron George, 26, of Micklow Close, Redcar, was remanded in custody to appear at Teesside Crown Court on September 21 charged with drugs offences and possession of criminal property.
Crash details
The crash happened in the early hours of Saturday near Middlesbrough when a Volkswagen Passat, which had been pursued by police, was driven the wrong way along the dual-carriageway and hit a marked armed response vehicle. Pc Matthew Blades, 37, and Pc Tom Clough, 38, were killed.
The five people in the Passat - Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak - were pronounced dead at the scene at South Bank.
Police have previously said that the five young men in the Passat may have had links to "serious and organised criminal activity". Four of them had previous criminal convictions and were believed to be associated with another car seen ramming properties earlier that morning.
Investigation and tributes
Cleveland Police received several reports of two vehicles being driven dangerously on the morning of the collision. The first vehicle, believed to be a Volvo XC60, was witnessed ramming properties in the Middlesbrough area. The second vehicle, the Passat, is believed to have been associated with the Volvo's activities. Both vehicles were operating with cloned number plates but were picked up by automatic number plate recognition technology. The Volvo has been traced and recovered in Middlesbrough.
Police said there was no evidence that filming of the activities was "for the purposes of TikTok".
Assistant Chief Constable Wayne Fox said: "This has been a fast-moving and complex investigation, with significant links to serious and organised criminal activity." He added: "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."
More than £750,000 has been raised for the families of the two police officers. A fundraiser created by the Cleveland Police Federation said funds would be split equally between the two officers' families.
Inquests were due to open on Thursday morning for the two officers, with hearings for the young men in the Passat scheduled for the afternoon at Teesside Magistrates' Court.
