Weapons, bikes and drugs seized during Operation Endurance

Potentially lethal weapons, a stolen vehicle, a motorbike and drugs were seized by police on Sunday (3^rd March) in another Operation Endurance run by neighbourhood officers from across Redcar & Cleveland and supported by the force Matrix Team and colleagues from North Yorkshire Police.

Several people were arrested or given penalty notices during the collaborative day of action.

Specially trained police drone operators also played a vital role in the operation which saw:

• Two males, both aged 20, given Section 59 notices and reported to court for driving without insurance and for driving other than on a road. 

They’d been picked up on the police drone riding an off-road bike on a playing field in Dormanstown; officers on the ground blocked the exit routes, detained the riders, and seized the motorbike.

• A stolen vehicle getting stuck off road after it failed to stop for police in Normanby.  The occupants allegedly ran off but again, the police drone located two men, aged 19 and 26, who were arrested on suspicion of theft of motor vehicle, dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, driving without a licence, driving without insurance and drug driving.

The drone search also led to a third man, aged 44, being located and arrested. He was questioned on suspicion of possession of a Class C drug and two counts of possession of an offensive weapon after officers seized a crossbow and a knuckleduster. He was bailed pending further enquiries. 

• In the Greater Eston NPT area, another vehicle failed to stop for officers and was located abandoned nearby. The vehicle was also found to contain some suspected stolen number plates.

Sergeant Rory Sadler said: “This was another really successful Operation Endurance, our ongoing work to reduce the misery caused to residents by nuisance or illegal off-road bikes and vehicles.

“Thanks to specialist support from our police drone operators, the Matrix Team and input from our colleagues at North Yorkshire we took drugs, weapons and vehicles off our streets.

“We’ll continue to run these days of action and I’d remind residents we welcome information from the community; please tell us who is using nuisance bikes and where they’re being stored.  This means we can build on the intelligence we have and plan appropriate action."

You can report to Cleveland Police online via the website, by calling 101, by using the PCC’s COPA app or if you don’t want to speak to police, you can pass information anonymously to www.crimestoppers-uk.org or phone them on 0800 555 111.