14 men wanted after football fans release arrested man before Premier League match
Written by News on 10/06/2019
Police have released images of 14 men wanted after football fans attacked officers and managed to free a suspect arrested before a Premier League match.
The Metropolitan Police say they want to speak to the men over the disorder, which happened ahead of Crystal Palace versus Brighton on 9 March.
Officers were called to reports of a large group of Palace supporters causing a disturbance close to the London club’s ground, Selhurst Park, at about 12pm.
The group, who were travelling to the stadium, set off several fireworks after the officers arrived and police arrested one man for a suspected “pyrotechnic-related offence”.
It prompted the Palace fans to surge towards the officers and start pushing, shoving and becoming increasingly aggressive, a police spokesman said.
The group managed to free the arrested man, who ran away, the spokesman added.
Inspector Matt Ashmead said: “The actions of those involved in this incident were aggressive and intimidating.
“In the latter stages they had the sole objective of attacking officers to ensure the escape of the detained male.
“We have an experienced, dedicated team working hard to identify those involved in order to bring them, and the man originally arrested, to justice.
“We have made a number of identifications already, but we are now appealing for the assistance of the public in identifying the remainder.”
Police have appealed for anyone with information that could identify the men to contact them.
The match ended in defeat for Palace as they lost 2-1 to Brighton.
(c) Sky News 2019: 14 men wanted after football fans release arrested man before Premier League match
