Hartlepool District Commander Supt Martin Hopps gives an update on the investigation
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00:00 Can you just bring us up to date on the latest on the incident?
00:03 Yeah, so we've established that we've had eight vehicles attacked throughout the course of the early hours of this morning.
00:08 They've looked like they've been maliciously ignited, which has unfortunately caused them to be burnt out.
00:14 It appears at this moment in time that it's really random.
00:17 The people that have been targeted, so to speak, haven't been specifically targeted for any reason
00:22 other than it's just been, unfortunately, it's been their vehicle at that time.
00:28 And how many people do you think have been involved?
00:30 We think it's only one suspect at this moment in time.
00:33 No indications from our CCTV enquiries has only established one suspect.
00:37 And these have taken place outside people's homes, very close to them. How dangerous has that been?
00:44 It has been dangerous in some instances because obviously, as you know, some of the streets are quite narrow.
00:48 The vehicles are parked only a few feet away from their home addresses.
00:52 So there has been some residual damage to the front of the home addresses.
00:56 That did displace a couple of the residents and we have been able to put them back in.
01:00 Obviously, any vehicle ignition is really dangerous.
01:03 So if anybody does see that, then please take some safe distance
01:08 and then ring the fire brigade to get it put out as soon as possible.
01:11 And what action is the police taking over this and what reassurance can you give to residents?
01:15 The action that's been taken so far is we've got a dedicated investigation team on it.
01:19 We've got a neighbourhood team going to be conducting the high visibility foot patrol in the area.
01:24 And we've got a suspect currently in custody which we're working through at this moment in time to establish their involvement.
01:29 Over the course of the weekend, the public should be able to see more police presence in that area.
01:34 And I've got some dedicated patrols being conducted at the time that the vehicles were burnt out at the area I was at this morning.
01:40 And those will continue throughout the weekend.
01:42 And is there any appeal to the public?
01:44 My appeal is if you've got any information with regards to what happened, get in touch with Cleveland Police.
01:49 If you've got any CCTV, any dash cam footage, any ring doorbell footage that you feel that we haven't yet collected,
01:55 then get in touch with Cleveland Police via the 101 service.