THREE men have been arrested after trouble flared in the Woodvale area of North Belfast on Tuesday night.
At around 8.45pm, it was reported that a car had been hijacked by a group of masked men in Fingal Street.
Shortly afterwards, the vehicle was deliberately driven at the front of Rea Estates, an estate agents on Woodvale Road, causing minimal damage to the building, before the men made off from the scene.
Just after 9.25pm, masked men were reported smashing windows of houses in the Rathlin Street area.
Three men, aged 26, 28 and 41 years, were arrested on suspicion of offences including criminal damage and remain in custody at this time.
Superintendent Allister Hagan said: “I want to reassure the community that our officers remain in the area tonight, and North Belfast residents will be aware of their visible presence on the streets.
“Our enquiries into the reports we have received this evening, which we are treating as racially-motivated hate crimes, are ongoing and we would encourage anyone with information to contact us on 101, or 999 in an emergency, quoting reference 1609 of 06/08/24.
"We have set up a Major Incident Public Portal for people to submit information, images and footage. Photos and footage, including CCTV, mobile phone or dash cam footage, can be shared with police through the Major Incident Public Portal at Public Portal (mipp.police.uk).”
