Man arrested after ramming police vehicles with tractor

A man has been arrested in Fivemiletown in the early hours of this morning after trying to evade police in a tractor and causing significant damage to three police vehicles.

Officers investigating a report of a drink driver in Fivemiletown attended an address in the Tattenabuddagh Lane area just after midnight as part of their inquiries.

While at the address, a man in his 20s tried to evade police in a tractor. He rammed three police vehicles causing extensive damage to all three vehicles. Attending officers narrowly avoided injury in the incident.

The driver aged 25 was later arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in custody at this time.

Detective Inspector Snoddy said, “This was a reckless and cowardly incident which has left three of our police vehicles off the road affecting our service delivery in the Mid Ulster area. There is also the impact in terms of our officers’ welfare, as well as the cost of repairs to the vehicle.

“If it were not for our officers taking evasive action to avoid the oncoming tractor, I have no doubt that officers would have been seriously injured or killed.”

Detectives investigating the incident are appealing for information and can be contacted on 101 quoting reference 2000 23/09/22. A report can also be made using the online reporting form via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport.