A 31-year-old man from Musselkanaal has been given a community service order of thirty hours due to a dangerous pursuit in 1st Exloërmond. The police judge acquitted his partner.
According to the judiciary, on January 10 last year the two chased a microcar with their cars across Tweeerdeweg Zuid and Drentse Mondenweg. He allegedly drove at high speed, overtook and braked abruptly. Eventually a collision occurred.
According to the suspects, the reason was an accident earlier that evening. The man stated that the moped had hit his mirror at a road narrowing and then continued driving.
“My baby started crying and he just kept driving,” the suspect told the police judge about the stress that caused him. “We wanted him to stop and take care of the damage.”
The two turned their cars around and drove after the microcar. According to the driver of the moped, he was then chased for a long time on a slippery road in the dark by a car with high beams. When he stopped, the male suspect allegedly punched his window and pulled on the door.
“I was terrified,” the complainant said in his statement. “I really thought it was going to end badly.”
The suspect acknowledged that he wanted to stop the driver. “If you have nothing to hide, you quit,” he told the judge. That response immediately drew criticism from the police judge. “You started playing for your own judge and then things got out of hand. You should have called the police immediately.”
Explanations varied about the eventual collision. The female suspect stated that the moped had backed into her car. According to the Public Prosecution Service, this could not be correct, partly based on the position of the vehicles when the police arrived.
According to the justice department, it was in any case established that both suspects deliberately chased the microcar and tried to force the driver to stop.
The public prosecutor called the driving behavior dangerous, partly because it was dark around 9 p.m. and it was icy. “This could have ended disastrously. Pursuing yourself is simply not possible.” He demanded fifty hours of community service for both suspects.
The judge found that the complainant had also not acted appropriately by driving away after the first collision.
“I understand that you were afraid,” said the police judge. “But you should have just stopped. That’s why the situation kept building up.”
The police judge found it proven that only the male suspect was guilty of coercion by driving his car in front of the moped and forcing the driver to stop. The dangerous driving behavior played a role in this. He was sentenced to 30 hours of community service.
While the man received community service, the female suspect was acquitted. According to the judge, her role was too limited and there was insufficient evidence that she had actively cooperated in the coercion.
The claim for damages of 2,500 euros for the destroyed moped was not granted. According to the judge, it is not sufficiently clear how exactly the damage occurred. Those involved will have to go to the civil court about this.
