Male Arrested.

Good morning,

If you were travelling on the A19 yesterday evening, you may have noticed a significant police presence.

At around 5.20pm, our Force Control Room received a report of a vehicle near Thirsk suspected to be a cloned car. Officers quickly located the vehicle - a black Vauxhall Insignia - and, after an attempted box was unsuccessful, a pursuit was authorised.

During the pursuit, the vehicle was driven in an extremely dangerous manner, including travelling contraflow and on the wrong side of the A19 towards oncoming traffic. The driver briefly returned to the correct side of the carriageway before attempting to drive contraflow again.

This level of driving posed a serious risk to the public. Our officers are highly trained to dynamically assess risk in fast-moving situations, and every decision is made with public safety as the overriding priority. In order to protect road users, a trained Tactical Pursuit and Containment (TPAC) officer carried out tactical contact to safely bring the pursuit to an end.

The driver then fled from the vehicle. After our Firearms officers jumped a fence and dashed across a cornfield, a man in his 20s was detained by officers. He was arrested on suspicion of a number of offences and taken to hospital for treatment. He has since been discharged and remains in police custody. A female passenger was also assessed at the scene as a precaution.

The vehicle has since been confirmed as stolen from West Yorkshire, and enquiries remain ongoing.

The A19 was closed for several hours while recovery work was carried out.

Although a police vehicle was damaged during the incident, no members of the public were injured, and the officer driving the vehicle which made tactical contact was treated with minor injuries. 

We will continue to be relentless in targeting criminals who use the road network and attempt to evade us.