By Dirk Boettger
Hands up, police… hey presto, your pants were wet!
After a few meters, the journey of van thieves ended late Tuesday evening in Berlin-Pankow.
Plainclothes police officers had observed on Max-Steinke-Strasse how several men broke into a parked van and short-circuited it within minutes.
When the officers made themselves felt, the perpetrators tried to flee. The trio didn’t get very far, however, because the police blocked the narrow street with their car at Pistoriusplatz.
The stopped transporter Photo: Spreepicture
Now the men tried to flee backwards out of the street: According to initial findings, the thieves are said to have caught a police officer behind the van.
Another police vehicle then came from behind. Now the perpetrators tried to flee to the front again.
The thieves rammed and damaged numerous cars Photo: Spreepicture
In the hopeless situation, wild driving maneuvers took place: The thieves damaged a total of ten parked cars, pushed them on top of each other and severely damaged them.
The thieves damaged a total of eleven vehicles as they fled Photo: Spreepicture
The theft eventually ended with the ramming of the plainclothes police officer’s car, which had blocked the road ahead.
The plainclothes police officers managed to arrest two perpetrators, a third was able to escape.
Those arrested suffered minor injuries while escaping, and one even peed himself in shock. The two car thieves first came to a hospital and then to a detention center.
The policeman who was hit by the escape van came to a hospital. However, according to initial information, he should not have suffered any serious injuries.
The police stopped the van Photo: Spreepicture
In the immediate vicinity of the crime scene, the investigators secured a second vehicle with which the thieves had come on site. A so-called pilot vehicle that later drives ahead to warn of police checks.
It is still unclear what the men were planning to do with the van. The police are looking for the third perpetrator.