The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Road rage incident sparks mass brawl
KIRKCALDY: 20 men involved in disturbance before fleeing
A mass brawl involving around 20 men broke out near Kirkcaldy within minutes of a road rage incident and a crash involving armed hooligans.
Police are appealing for anyone with dash cam footage to get in touch after the trouble on Friday evening, which kicked off when two cars deliberately rammed into each other at the Redhouse roundabout.
This was followed by a disturbance involving about 20 men on nearby Balbeggie Avenue.
At around the same time, a silver BMW was involved in a collision on Main Street, Thornton, and a number of men fled the scene across fields in the direction of the A92.
Describing the drama, a witness said: “A male threw a baseball bat up the lane then threw a small package up the lane as well. Before the police arrived, they took off up the lane.”
Chaos briefly reigned in parts of Fife with reports of a road-rage car crash and a brawl involving about 20 men.
Police helicopters were heard circling overhead on Friday as officers tried to track down those involved in incidents in Kirkcaldy and Thornton.
One witness in Thornton said a man discarded a baseball bat before a group of men got out of a BMW car and fled a crash scene.
Trouble started at around 8pm when police received a report of a road-rage incident at the Redhouse roundabout in Kirkcaldy, where a silver Audi A4 and a silver Honda Civic were said to have deliberately rammed into each other.
Shortly afterwards, what police described as a “large-scale disturbance” involving around 20 men erupted in nearby Balbeggie Avenue.
Within a few minutes of this, a silver BMW was involved in a collision with a silver Hyundai car in Main Street, Thornton, near the junction to Riverside.
A number of men, believed to have weapons including a baseball bat, fled across fields in the direction of the A92. Police have urged witnesses, in particular those with dash-cam footage, to contact officers on the 101 number quoting incident 3629 of July 20, or make a report anonymously to the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Detective Chief Inspector John Anderson from Glenrothes Police Station said: “This was a large-scale disturbance involving a number of individuals who we believe to be known to each other.
“A number of specialist Police Scotland resources were deployed to the Thornton area on Friday night and we are asking for the public’s help to identify and trace those involved.
“Officers recovered the silver Audi A4 vehicle burnt out a short time later, along with the damaged Honda and BMW vehicles. We are now keen to establish their movements before these incidents were reported.
“We suspect that a number of additional vehicles will have been in the area containing others involved.”