By Dirk Boettger
Is it becoming a new sport among teenagers in Berlin to hijack car-sharing cars?
Two men threatened a “Miles” driver in Prenzlauer Berg with a knife on Wednesday evening and stole the car-sharing company’s VW Polo.
The driver had filled up and wanted to get something to drink at the gas station on Margarete-Sommer-Strasse. When he came out, he was threatened and the car was stolen.
The rental car was wedged and stopped
Photo: Spreepicture
The young man had a laptop with all of his student work, his mobile phone and other personal items in the vehicle. He immediately ran back to the gas station and alerted the police from there.
What the robbers apparently hadn’t considered: the car naturally has tracking technology. The dispatcher from the company “Miles” was able to give the police the exact coordinates of the VW on the emergency call, and the stolen mobile phone was also located at the same time.
The chase lasted only 5 minutes, the perpetrators did not go three kilometers.
Several emergency vehicles wedged the carjackers on the Mühlendammbrücke and arrested the occupants, two young men. Reinforcements from the Berlin police quickly arrived. In addition to the stolen items, a knife is said to have been found on a suspect.
The second perpetrator is also taken away in handcuffs Photo: Spreepicture
The young men now face at least one charge of aggravated armed robbery. This is not a trivial offence, but a serious offence.
Carshing cars and taxis hijacked
As was learned from police circles, there is said to be a new hype among young men about robbing rental cars or stealing them illegally with stolen rental data.
It was only on Monday that a stolen “Miles” car with three occupants was stopped on the Elsenbrücke. And shortly before that, two taxis were attacked and robbed.