– The incident took place in Uraz, in Trzebnica County. Local police officers were alerted that a man wearing a life jacket was on one of the islets formed by the turbulent water and needed help – reports asp. szt. Łukasz Dutkowiak, spokesperson for the Provincial Police Headquarters in Wrocław.
And he adds:
The officers immediately went to check whether the person really was waiting for help, and they noticed a dinghy next to him. The man was standing on the islet and did not respond to the information given by the police. After a while, however, he entered the water, and unfortunately the river current immediately swept him away. The officers began running along the bank while showing him how he should behave. Fortunately, amid this dangerous situation, the desperate man listened and did what the police officers asked him to do. He therefore swam toward the thicket, where there were larger branches that he could grab onto.
After running several hundred metres, the police officers jumped into the water and helped pull the desperate man onto the bank. The spokesperson said: – They worked together with firefighters, who had put on waders and brought the appropriate equipment, and they were ultimately the ones who pulled him out of the water.
The rescued man turned out to be 43 years old. Initially, he claimed with complete conviction that he had slipped and fallen into the water. However, when asked what he was doing on the island and who owned the boat located there, he could no longer give a rational answer. The officers therefore decided to investigate.
Police officer:
The chilled and soaked 43-year-old was placed in the care of the medics who arrived at the scene. But almost at the same time, officers from the Water Police Station in Wrocław received a report of the theft of a dinghy belonging to Wrocław’s Technikum Żeglugi Śródlądowej.
Further checks confirmed that it was the same boat. Its value, including the equipment, was estimated at PLN 30,000, and after being towed away it was returned to its owner.
The rescued 43-year-old ultimately admitted to stealing the boat and damaging the gutters of a nearby building. As it turned out, he broke them while trying to reach the surveillance cameras, which he also wanted to damage.
The man faces up to 8 years in prison.