The convicted 32-year-old Radosław W. and 38-year-old Rafał M. from Małopolskie Voivodeship dressed as police officers in order to steal a vehicle carrying almost 24 tonnes of copper cable worth nearly PLN 600,000. Because the driver successfully resisted and managed to escape, the theft did not take place.
Rafał M. and Radosław W., both with secondary education, had been unemployed for some time. They wanted to make a large amount of money quickly and easily. Since Radosław W. had previously worked at a scrap-metal purchasing facility and knew how much could be made from selling copper scrap—and was also familiar with ways of putting stolen copper into circulation without arousing suspicion—he came up with the idea of attacking a vehicle leaving the smelter with this very material.
The men drove several times to the area of the “Cedynia” Smelter in Orsk and watched the vehicles leaving it. While preparing for the attack, they tried various methods of stopping vehicles. They tested the “drunk” method and the “loud firecracker” method, without the expected results. Drivers did not stop when explosions occurred and avoided the supposedly intoxicated people lying on the road.
About a month before the attack, they came up with the idea of dressing as police officers. To do so, they purchased shirts with epaulettes, police badges, a stop signal paddle, a replica pistol and a lamp with a flashing blue light online and in appropriate stores. They also rented a car typical of the traffic police, an Opel Insignia, from a showroom in Kraków.
They arrived in the Copper Basin on 3 July 2014. After 1:00 a.m., already on 4 July, they noticed a Scania truck with a trailer leaving the smelter. They took advantage of the fact that the vehicle had failed to stop at a “Stop” sign on the Rudna–Rynarcice route and signalled it to stop with the paddle. They asked the driver to get into the Opel.
The man became suspicious when he saw that one of the police officers had an ID card hanging around his neck, which is not typical of traffic police officers. When he began backing away, Rafał M. ran up to him, grabbed his arm and began pulling him toward the car. The victim struggled. The other accused man then ran over and sprayed tear gas into the driver’s face. He also tried to drag him into the car. During the struggle, the accused men struck the victim several times. They told him that they only wanted to take the vehicle. The attacked man vehemently protested, stating that he would not surrender the vehicle because he would lose his job. The accused men then began hitting him on the head and torso.
However, the victim defended himself tenaciously, freed himself, ran to the vehicle and drove away. He immediately notified the police. The attackers also quickly left the scene. They changed clothes and hid the clothing used to commit the crime, along with the other gadgets, in bushes.
The items were found, and subsequent biological tests confirmed that they had been used by the accused.
It was established that the truck was carrying copper cable weighing more than 23 tonnes and worth PLN 600,000. The tractor unit and trailer were worth nearly PLN 175,000. The victim remembered the beginning of the registration number of the rented vehicle. This made it possible, on the basis of surveillance recordings, to establish the vehicle’s origin and the driver’s appearance.
This led investigators to a car rental company in Kraków, where Radosław W.’s identity was established.
When he learned that the police were looking for him, he reported himself to the prosecutor’s office on 30 July 2014. He gave a detailed explanation and provided the name of his accomplice. Rafał M. evaded law enforcement for another year. He was arrested on 31 July 2015. After charges were brought, he too gave a detailed account of the incident and expressed remorse.
In November 2015, both men were charged with attempting to rob the victim in order to steal property with a total value of PLN 775,000, and with causing him—through the use of violence—bodily injuries in the form of bruises to the face and arms, resulting in a health disorder lasting less than seven days.
The accused faced up to 12 years in prison. On 12 January 2016, the District Court in Lubin issued a judgment in the case. The accused took advantage of the possibility of voluntarily submitting to punishment at the hearing. They applied to be convicted without a trial. Since the circumstances of the crime were not in doubt and the court found that the aims of punishment could be achieved without conducting a trial, it granted the accused men’s request and convicted them at the first hearing.
Radosław W. and Rafał M. each received sentences of two years’ imprisonment. Since neither man had previously been convicted, the court suspended the execution of their sentences for five years. The judgment is now final.
Liliana Łukasiewicz, press spokesperson for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Legnica/ii