Two men have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after several vehicles, including a police response vehicle, were damaged.
The incident happened in Orchard Stree, Weston-super-Mare town centre, between 24:40 hours on Sunday night and around 12:15 hours on Monday morning.
The windows of a parked police car had been smashed, and graffiti had been sprayed on the vehicle. It has now been taken out of service for a considerable amount of time, and local taxpayers will end up footing the bill for the repairs.
Police stations only have a certain amount of response vehicles, so losing just one can adversely affect the ability of the police to respond to 999 calls.
Several other vehicles, including a van and motorbikes, were also found damaged in Worthy Place, Boulevard and Bristol Road Lower at approximately 12.30 am on Monday.
Two men, aged 31 and 32, were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.
The 32-year-old was also further arrested on suspicion of burglary and two public order offences. As officers were dealing with the male, he allegedly bit one of the officers.
He was also arrested for assaulting an emergency worker. Both of the males have now been released on police bail pending further enquiries.
Detective Constable Carolyn Olsen said:
“At a time when the overwhelming majority of people are showing their appreciation for the work of the emergency services, it is all the more disappointing to learn one of our own vehicles has been targeted and damaged in this way.
“We would urge anyone with information about the incidents to contact us as soon as possible.”
Anyone with information about the incidents is asked to call 101 or report it online, giving reference number 5220086037.
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I think there should be a separate set of rules governing injury or assault on emergency workers and their vehicles and equipment and they should be extremely stringent applied. It wont happen of course because we’ve become too bloody liberal and always looking for excuses for this behaviour instead of realising that some people are just nasty bastards who need taking down in a way that they understand.
Completely agree with anonymous comment above, our magistrates are not affected themselves and are too lenient.