District police officers patrolling the Radwanice municipality noticed a tractor with a trailer traveling on a public road. The vehicle had neither registration plates nor rear lighting. – The officers immediately intervened and signaled to the driver to stop using lights and sirens – reports asp. Bartosz Łopatka, acting press officer of the District Police Headquarters in Polkowice.
He adds: – However, the driver ignored the police officers’ orders and continued driving.
The officers pulled alongside the vehicle, and one of them clearly signaled with his hand and shouted, ordering the driver to stop. The man turned onto a dirt road and stopped, but when the police officer approached the tractor, the driver suddenly set off, attempting to escape.
The police officers set off in pursuit again.
After several hundred meters, the tractor driver stopped the vehicle, then unexpectedly shifted into reverse and rammed the police car, pushing it several more meters and turning it sideways across the road. He then continued his escape.
Spokesperson:
The officers left the damaged police car and began pursuing the suspect on foot. After a short time, they reached the nearest town, where they found the 68-year-old man and the tractor with trailer he had been driving, hidden behind one of the properties.
It turned out that the driver was sober; however, neither the tractor nor the trailer was authorized for road use. They had no registration and no mandatory third-party liability insurance.
The man was arrested. He will now face charges for fleeing from a police patrol, for which he could receive a sentence of up to 5 years in prison. Police officer: – What is more, he will feel it very painfully in his wallet as well – he will have to pay not only for the damage caused, but also a hefty penalty for the lack of mandatory third-party liability insurance.
The officers conclude:
We remind you that lacking a valid third-party liability insurance policy entails fines amounting to many thousands of zlotys. We appeal to all vehicle owners to fulfill their insurance-related obligations. The penalties are severe.