A meeting was held at the headquarters of the Lwówek Śląski County Police Headquarters with the girls who stopped an intoxicated driver on 3 July. The head of the Lwówek police, Commissioner Wojciech Czafurski, personally expressed his sincere thanks and congratulations to them for their exemplary conduct:
Stopping the driver and preventing him from continuing to drive while intoxicated undoubtedly may have helped prevent another tragedy on the road. By taking a risk in confronting the irresponsible driver, you ladies demonstrated that you care about the safety of all road users and showed an above-average understanding of the seriousness of the situation.
Therefore, on behalf of myself and my police officers, I thank you for your exemplary conduct. Cooperation with kind and committed citizens is an honour for us.
As a reminder, the incident occurred during the night of 2–3 July, at around 1:00 a.m. “Lwówek police officers were called to Rakowice Wielkie, where three young women had apprehended an intoxicated driver,” reports Senior Constable Olga Łukaszewicz of the Lwówek Śląski County Police Headquarters. “The girls were travelling behind a driver who was swerving and crossing into the opposite lane. They decided to overtake him, stop him and then take his keys.”
It turned out that the 33-year-old driver was completely drunk; he had more than 2 per mille of alcohol in his breath.
The man’s driving licence was confiscated. He now faces up to two years in prison.
Police officers:
Let us remember that a citizen’s arrest is a privilege granted to every citizen by Article 243 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. An offender may be detained both while committing the offence and after a pursuit undertaken immediately after the offence was committed.
However, it should be remembered that this right applies in one of two cases:
- when there is a fear that the offender may go into hiding
- or when it is impossible to establish the offender’s identity.
An offender detained in this way must be handed over to the police immediately.