12 people have been arrested in connection with the wrong-way crash on the A66 near Middlesbrough that killed seven people, including two Cleveland Police officers, on August 22, 2026. Nine men and three women, aged 19 to 61, were detained on suspicion of a range of offenses, from firearms possession to taking part in the work of an organized crime group, the force said in an update on Monday afternoon.
Prosecutors have charged a 26-year-old Redcar man with holding class A and class B drugs with intent to supply them, as well as with having criminal property. Others remain in police custody or have been released on bail, and one man was remanded on recall to prison.
“This has been a fast-moving and complex investigation, with significant links to serious and organised criminal activity,” Assistant Chief Constable Wayne Fox, the strategic lead for the inquiry, said on Monday.
What Happened on the A66
Cleveland Police acted on intelligence about numerous incidents linked to a Volkswagen Passat believed to be running cloned plates, according to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which is examining the case. The plates triggered an automatic number plate recognition camera, and an armed response vehicle began a pursuit that lasted just under seven minutes. It ended when the Passat joined the A66 dual carriageway at South Bank against the flow of traffic; officers aborted and stayed on the correct side of the road.
About 10 seconds later, at 3:39 a.m., the Passat struck a marked armed response car carrying Police Constable Matthew Blades, 37, and Police Constable Tom Clough, 38. That vehicle had not been part of the chase — the two officers had been sent to the area to help search for the Passat. No one in either car survived. Middlesbrough sits about 250 miles north of London.
The five people in the Passat were named as Michael Robert Cahill, 23; Jakub Matusiak, 23, whose name has also been reported as Jacob; Makai Saddington, 18, from Middlesbrough; Theo Rae, 17; and Cole Robert Worthy, 17.
Families Pay Tribute to Two Officers
Chief Constable Victoria Fuller of Cleveland Police described Blades and Clough as brave officers who protected their communities, and called the day of the crash an incredibly sad one for Cleveland.
Blades was a father of two young boys. Before joining the police he taught English at Carmel College in Darlington, which remembered him as an intelligent, kind and approachable teacher. He coached the under-10s Reds team at FC Hartlepool, which said the children looked up to him as a role model, mentor and friend, and he had recently joined Seaton Carew FC, where he was preparing for his first season with the under-sevens Seahawks squad — a team his own son plays for.
“He gave his life in the line of duty, protecting and serving others with courage, dedication and selflessness,” his wife said in a statement released by the force. She closed her tribute by calling him the family’s superhero, forever loved and forever missed.
Clough, a former Civil Nuclear Constabulary officer, was remembered by his relatives as their hero, a man with a fantastic sense of humor who jumped into action whenever he was needed and who proudly served his country. His family and his partner thanked colleagues, friends and the wider community for their support. A man who knew him wrote on social media that he had been a true friend and a fantastic soldier.
Fundraisers and Community Grief
Money poured into an online fundraiser launched by the Cleveland Police Federation, which said the two men had paid the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. Donations passed £200,000 roughly six hours after organizers first shared the link on social media, and more than £264,000 had been pledged by Monday morning. Organizers said the total will be split equally between the two families to use as they wish. A second crowdfunder had raised more than £26,400 by Sunday night.
At the police cordon on Eston Road, officers laid flowers, removed their hats and stood in brief silence. Local residents Elisia and Vincent Haarhoff were among those who visited the scene, with Elisia Haarhoff saying no family deserved such a loss. Balloon releases in memory of the five young men were announced for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at several locations, including South Bank.
Sharon Morgan, the aunt of Makai Saddington, wrote on Facebook that losing someone so young and so full of life had left a space in the family’s hearts that could never be filled. Kelly Cahill, the mother of Michael Robert Cahill, told her son to fly high and be at peace. Ellie Webster, a close friend of Theo Rae, said she would miss his daily check-ins, and mourner Channy Brown posted that the five would be forever young and forever missed.
Questions Investigators Are Still Weighing
Officers had responded to reports of two cars being driven dangerously on Saturday, August 22. The Passat had earlier been sought in connection with a Volvo XC60 seen ramming properties in the Middlesbrough area; both vehicles are believed to have carried cloned plates, and the Volvo has been traced and recovered. Four of the five people who died in the Passat had previous convictions, the force said, and court records show one of the men had admitted assaulting a police officer and signaled that he would also plead guilty to a charge of causing racially aggravated alarm or distress in Middlesbrough on June 9.
There is no evidence the activities that night were filmed for TikTok, the force added, while the local police and crime commissioner condemned an idiotic wrong-way driving trend circulating on social media. In the immediate aftermath, Cleveland Police said officers had begun following the Volkswagen after it was seen acting suspiciously in South Bank.
The IOPC said it has obtained accounts from the officers involved in the pursuit, along with the incident log and in-car footage, as it works to establish exactly how the chase unfolded in the minutes before the collision.