On Friday, 20 December, the councillor was returning from a Christmas performance at the Stary Theatre. Preschool children performed a nativity play on the theatre stage, including the councillor’s daughter. As the parents and children were leaving the theatre, Damian Sawczak noticed that a car driving out of the parking lot was scraping other cars, including his own. The driver damaged two cars and began to drive away.
– At first, driven by adrenaline, I ran after the car to clarify what had happened to the scratched vehicles – councillor Damian Sawczak recounts. – The perpetrator was driving away as if nothing had happened. I started running after him. I managed to catch up with him at the traffic lights near the Music School. I asked the driver of the car next to us to block the escape route. I tried to talk to the fleeing driver, but he was speaking indistinctly. That made me suspect, later confirmed by the police, that he was under the influence of alcohol. Together with the driver who blocked his way, we took his keys away – Damian Sawczak explains.
The men called the police. The police officers moved the car to the Music School parking lot and called the detained driver’s family so that someone could collect the vehicle. They took the driver to the police station.
Damian Sawczak appeals for responsibility during the holidays. – This is a time for meetings with family and loved ones, and we often offer one another alcohol, so it is especially important not to get behind the wheel after drinking at a gathering. It is important to take responsibility for yourself and your family, as well as for everyone we could hurt by driving under the influence of alcohol – the councillor says.