The police officer behind the wheel of a police car which crashed into a Darlington home has been suspended from driving.
The car ploughed through the garden wall and into the front of a property on Elmfield Terrace in icy conditions on Sunday (December 3) evening.
Durham Police say officers were going with blue lights to reports of a man threatening members of the public with a knife when the vehicle left the road at about 7.25pm.
It is believed the cop car skidded on compacted ice before colliding with the property.
The 22-plate armed response vehicle came to a rest on top of the garden wall’s wreckage.
Neither the officer nor residents in the house suffered any injuries.
The officer was taken to hospital as a precaution and has since been suspended from driving for work with immediate effect while the Durham force investigate the incident.
A force spokesperson said: “The police vehicle is believed to have skidded on compacted ice before colliding with the property.
“The driver of the vehicle – a police constable from the Roads and Armed Policing Unit – has been suspended from driving with immediate effect while the circumstances surrounding the collision are reviewed.”
Pictures from the scene this morning show thee garden wall reduced the rubble where the car hit it. The front window of the home has been boarded up with the brickwork underneath appearing damaged.
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One resident said the road was icy when the incident happened.
Police previously said a structural engineers would assess the damage to the building.
Officers located and arrested a suspect in connection with the reports of a knife-wielding man threatening the public.
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