Another house in Middlesbrough has suffered damage after being hit by a car in the latest incident in the town.
Police are investigating reports of a vehicle crashing into the wall of a property on Steele Crescent, South Bank, at around 12.30am on Thursday.
The latest incident is close to the scenes of a crash on the A66, in which seven people died on Saturday, and a house fire in Grangetown where a seven-year-old girl and her aunt were killed.
Cleveland Police said it has not been confirmed whether there is any link to the latest incident, or a previous car ramming last Saturday.
Superintendent Emily Harrison said: “The property was empty at the time and we have not currently received any reports of any injuries.
“Officers are conducting enquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding this incident. Our investigation is in its early stages and it has not yet been confirmed whether this incident is linked to wider organised crime.”
A neighbour told The Daily Mail: “It happened at about 12.40am. My daughter saw it. She said a car kept going backwards and forwards into the wall over and over.
“People on the outside think it’s scary but it doesn’t bother me. I’ve grown up here and it’s normal. There’s always something going on here.”
open image in galleryIt comes after Valentina Foster, aged seven, and Natalie McDonald, 34, died following a fire at an end-of-terrace property in Birchington Avenue, Grangetown, during the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Cleveland Police said two men, aged 23 and 31, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and they remain in police custody following the fire.
Lisa Kirton, Ms McDonald’s mother, told The Times that her daughter “was a beautiful, bubbly person who everyone knew” and that Ms McDonald’s niece was “a very cute girl”.
On Thursday, tributes left outside the house included a photo of the pair among bouquets of flowers and toys, with the words: “RIP Natalie and Valentina you will be missed.”
A Care Bear has been left, along with a teddy bear and a note which said: “Now she dances with butterflies Valentina”.
The force said that a 48-year-old woman remains in a critical condition in the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle. Three other people suffered injuries which are believed to be non-life-threatening.
Prime minister Andy Burnham said “all of the support will be provided to get to the heart of what has happened” after the “utterly devastating” fire.
The force would not rule out a link between the blaze and the A66 crash which killed two police officers and five young men.
The blaze happened close to the scene of the crash on Saturday between a VW Passat, which was evading police and heading in the wrong direction on the dual carriageway, and a marked police armed response vehicle.
open image in galleryPC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were killed in the collision.
On Wednesday, an online appeal to help the officers’ families passed the £1 million mark.
The five people in the Passat – Cole 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.
Cleveland Police have arrested 17 people following the crash, charging two of them and bailing the others, as part of investigations into alleged organised crime.
The Passat had been pursued by police following an earlier incident in which a house in the Acklam area of Middlesbrough, linked to Worthy, was rammed by a vehicle. The house suffered a smashed downstairs window with bricks scattered along the front.
The BBC says it understands that Worthy’s father’s home was rammed before the teenager and the four others set out in the Passat.
There is no suggestion that Worthy’s father was involved in criminal activity.
The pursuit was aborted when the Passat went the wrong way down the A66.
Police have previously said the five young men in the Passat may have had links to “serious and organised criminal activity” and four of them have 37 previous convictions.
Inquests for the two police officers and five young men are set to open on Thursday.