Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Villagers help police track down crash driver
ONE man has been arrested following a major police manhunt that involved villagers near Bristol helping to track a driver who ran off when an aborted police pursuit ended in a serious crash.
Villagers said they tracked the man on the run through Abbots Leigh with messages on the village’s WhatsApp group, helping police find the wanted man.
Avon and Somerset police have confirmed they arrested a 23-year-old man and thanked local residents for their help.
The drama on Thursday night began on the other side of the Avon when police stopped a car being driven through Lawrence Weston just after 9pm.
The driver sped off and was pursued by police to Avonmouth and then on to the southbound M5 over the Avonmouth Bridge.
When the driver left the M5 at junction 19 for Portishead and headed east back towards Bristol along the A369, police said they pulled back for safety reasons.
The driver got as far as Abbots Leigh, close to the turning for the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and was involved in a head-on collision with two other cars.
Five people in one of the cars were injured in the crash, which happened outside The George pub in the centre of the village.
All five were taken to hospital, but none is thought to have suffered lifethreatening or life-changing injuries.
The driver of the car ran off from the scene as villagers in The George came out to help those hurt, and called for assistance from villagers using Abbots Leigh’s residents’ WhatsApp group.
All three emergency services went to the scene, and paramedics treated the injured with the initial assistance of local doctors who rushed from their homes nearby. Three of the five injured were taken to hospital, South West Ambulance Service said.
The on-the-run driver escaped the scene initially and headed into the village, sparking a major police hunt involving officers on foot, in the police helicopter and the police drone operator. Local residents kept up lines of communication on the village’s WhatsApp group, keeping track of sightings of the man.
“The first message on the WhatsApp was at about 9.50pm which initially was a call for help to a serious car crash by the pub,” one villager said.
“Some of the medics and doctors who live in the village rushed down to help, as the emergency services arrived.
“One of the people involved ran off, and he was dressed all in black. People were posting messages if they saw him in the village, and the drone operator was alerted to sightings and he was arrested after 11pm,” they added.
A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset police confirmed they had made one arrest in the village.
“A 23-year-old man has been arrested following a pursuit from Bristol into North Somerset yesterday,” the police spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for Avon Fire and Rescue Service said two fire engines, from Pill and Bedminster, attended the scene.
The main A369 road was closed for much of the night as collision investigators scoured the scene.