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We want our county’s roads to be a safe place for drivers… but not for criminals.
This week, officers has been working to stop those using the roads for criminal purposes.
During the week, officers made a total of 19 arrests, recovered more than £500,000 in stolen golf clubs and eight vehicles which had been reported as stolen.
On Wednesday night, five people were arrested after a vehicle of interest was identified by our dog unit travelling on the A13 towards Basildon.
When it was stopped, officers discovered it was full of new golf clubs which had been reported as stolen in Hampshire. In total, their value is about £500,000.
Further checks confirmed the vehicle in which the golf clubs were hidden had been reported as stolen from Southend early this week.
Whilst the three occupants of the van were being arrested, a second vehicle of interest passed by and was spotted by the officers.
After the second vehicle failed to stop, officers followed safely and the vehicle then stopped, with two occupants attempting to flee from the scene. However, both were caught very quickly thanks to the work of a dog unit.
All five men were arrested on suspicion of theft of motor vehicle and theft from a motor vehicle.
On the same evening, roads policing officers spotted a vehicle of interest in the Colchester area which then very quickly came to a stop, with a person attempting to run off.
Other officers were called to the scene and a man who had a distinctive money belt was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.
On Tuesday evening two men were arrested on suspicion of theft of motor vehicle and handling stolen goods after a Mercedes Sprinter van came to the attention of officers on the M25 close to the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and was stopped by officers.
Very quickly, they found that the vehicle was being driven using a cloned registration plate, with the true vehicle having been stolen from Maldon in October.
Once the men were arrested, officers searched the van and found items from what appeared to be a disassembled BMW. Further checks on the items found the BMW in question had been stolen from the London area two days previously.
On the same evening, a black Volkswagen was spotted on the A13. The vehicle was suspected of being involved in four separate tool thefts from Lakeside.
When officers signalled for it to stop, it did not, and it continued to travel on the wrong side of the A13 until it came to a stop and the driver tried to run off.
A dogs unit was able to catch up with him and he was detained and a large number of tools were found in the back and the boot of the car.
The man was arrested on suspicion of theft from a motor vehicle and theft of a motor vehicle.
Superintendent Phil Stinger, of our operational policing command, said:
“We’re working hard to make Essex roads safe for law abiding users – but not for criminals.
“To those people who think they can use our roads for criminal means – you can’t. And this week shows exactly why.
“We have units patrolling roads across the county and on the border with other counties every day and every night looking out for vehicles which we suspect of being involved in crime.
“This month, we’ve had a number of people think it’s a good idea to ditch their vehicle and run off from us – but each time, they’ve been stopped. And it helps that we’ve got some very quick dogs who love nothing more than catching up to someone and making sure they’re arrested – and of course our human colleagues in our operational support group, who routinely run towards danger and people trying to cause harm to our communities.”
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