A man has been charged after allegedly driving a stolen taxi the wrong way down a busy dual carriageway.
The horrifying incident came just days after a wrong-way crash on the A66 in Teesside, in which seven people, including two police officers, were killed.
North Wales Police said the car, which had been reported stolen from Holyhead, Anglesey, was stopped while travelling the wrong way down the A55 on Monday evening.
The force said that no one was injured during the incident, but a cyclist was knocked over prior to the taxi joining the expressway. They suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
A number of parked vehicles were also damaged, the police said.
An officer used a spike strip to stop the taxi as it travelled toward oncoming vehicles.
The alarming incident was captured by dashcam footage in the car of Royal Air Force serviceman Martin Williams.
“I saw ahead of me there was a police car that was slowing all the traffic down and directing everyone into the lefthand lane before we came to a stop,” he told The Independent.
“I then saw the officer in the car get out and put a stringer [spike strip] across the road. I thought the vehicle they were stopping was coming from behind me so I looked in the mirrors but then I suddenly saw the taxi coming toward me.
“It was coming quite quick, veered toward the police car and then slowed down before going over the stinger. It must have then gone about half a mile past me before it stopped and the police car in front of me followed it down the road.”
Darragh O’Grady, 31, of no fixed abode but from Ireland, has now been charged over the incident.
The force said on Thursday that he is facing charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, dangerous driving, aggravated taking of a vehicle, and other driving offences.
He is also charged with theft and fraud by false representation.
O’Grady has been remanded in custody to appear at Caernarfon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
A police spokesman said: “At the current time, there is no evidence to indicate that the incidents on Monday evening were filmed for the purposes of uploading to social media.
“This continues to be an active investigation and therefore we urge people not to speculate on the details of the incident or the motivations behind it.”
