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Teenager detained after police car rammed during stolen camper van chase

Two police officers sustained minor injuries and the car was damaged

Police have revealed that the person detained following a chase involving a stolen camper van is a 16-year-old male.

Two officers also sustained minor injuries when their car was rammed by the driver of the van.

The camper van was stolen from a house on the Portadown Road in Tandragee shortly before 5.30pm on Wednesday.

Police said the house was ransacked, with a quantity of jewellery, a sum of money and keys to the van taken. These were then used to steal the vehicle which was parked outside the house.

The camper van was spotted a short time later in Armagh and failed to stop for police.

Said Inspector Quinn: “The camper van was later sighted by police in Keady, where the driver rammed the police car, causing significant damage to the vehicle.

“Two officers, who were in the car at the time, sustained minor injuries as a result.

“The camper van drove off from the scene of the collision, before it was abandoned a short distance away, with two males exiting and making off across fields.

“With assistance from colleagues in the Air Support Unit and Dog Unit, a 16-year-old male was detained by An Garda Siochana.”

An eye-witness yesterday told Armagh I how they spotted the stolen van weaving erratically in and out of traffic along the Monaghan Road in Armagh shortly before 6pm.

They said it was swerving in and out of lanes – including the hard shoulder – where a female dog walker was forced to take evasive action into the ditch, close to the turn off for Milford village.

Inspector Quinn said enquiries are ongoing. The PSNI are appealing to anyone who was in the area at the time, or who may have dashcam or other footage, to contact them on 101 quoting reference 1460 of 20/04/22.

Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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