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Durham City Police have shared dramatic dashcam footage of a pursuit through the city involving three lads on a moped.
Just after 9.30pm last night (Wednesday, October 26) police received a report of three males on a moped with no lights and no helmets - but carrying a pair of bolt croppers. They were reported to be driving erratically from Durham in the direction of Langley Moor.
Officers from the Roads and Armed Policing Unit’s B Relief were dispatched and followed a further call reporting a similar vehicle heading along the A690 in the direction of Willington.
PCs Steven Graham, Rachael Bennett, Gareth Irvin and Stewart Liddle successfully stung the bike twice at the bottom of Scripton Gill Road. This forced the riders to ditch it at Neville’s Cross and try to escape on foot before being chased down by officers.
The pursuit was captured on the dashcam of the police vehicle. Officers have now shared the footage showing the dramatic moment the moped crashed and the lads made off on foot.
A 20-year-old man and two 17-year-old boys were arrested on suspicion of theft of the vehicle and going equipped. One of the teenagers was further arrested on suspicion of failing to stop, dangerous driving and possessing a controlled drug following a search.
The bolt croppers were also recovered along with the bike that was suspected to have been stolen earlier in the night. All three suspects were taken to custody and this afternoon, have been bailed until next month whilst further enquiries continue.
Inspector Dave Clarke, of Durham Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “We will not hesitate to use our tactics to bring dangerous vehicles to a controlled stop and thankfully this bike was intercepted before any harm was caused to members of the public.
“Thank you to those residents that called us to report the incident to us which allowed us to make sure our units could intercept the bike as quickly as possible.”