In her reply, Turley said she was “utterly appalled” by the accusation and said she did not know the identities of who had died at the time of her tribute, other than PCs Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough, 38, who she named.
While she said Cleveland Police had asked her to pay tribute to all victims, the force has not confirmed this and the area’s police and crime commissioner told the BBC it does not issue media advice regarding police incidents.
Police later confirmed that Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jacob Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, Theo Rae, 17, and 17-year-old Cole Robert Worthy were all in the car on the wrong side of the A66. All bar Cahill had previous convictions.
The Volkswagen Passat was being pursued by police until 10 seconds before the crash, according to the police watchdog.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct said the Passat was believed to be using cloned registration plates.
Cleveland Police announced five more arrests on Tuesday, bringing the total to 17, including a 16-year-old boy and two men, 18 and 21, arrested on suspicion of participating in an organised crime group.
Separately, two men previously arrested have since been charged as part of the investigation.
