A drunk driver without a licence, drugs, a flight from police and suspicion of a series of fuel thefts. This was how a joint operation by officers from Bolesławiec and Nowogrodziec ended. They arrested two men suspected of attempting to break into the fuel tank of a truck parked near the economic zone.
Crime officers from Bolesławiec and uniformed officers from Nowogrodziec conducted joint operations targeting property crime. In the course of their operational work, they identified a car which the perpetrators may have been using.
When the officers attempted to stop the vehicle for inspection, the driver ignored the signals being given and began to flee. The pursuit ended in a collision with a police car. After the arrest, it turned out that the driver was a 22-year-old resident of Zgorzelec County.
The police established that the man did not have the required entitlement to drive and was intoxicated. The test showed nearly one per mille of alcohol in his system. Officers also suspected that he had previously taken intoxicating substances, so blood was taken from him for further laboratory testing.
The 22-year-old’s problems did not end there. Police found several portions of methamphetamine on him. In addition, the car he was driving had registration plates assigned to another vehicle.
In the car’s trunk, officers found equipment that could be used to steal fuel. It included rubber hoses and a special metal tank fitted with an electric pump enabling diesel fuel to be transferred quickly. The vehicle was secured as evidence, and the driver and his 48-year-old passenger were arrested.
Initially, the 22-year-old was charged with five offenses involving drug possession, attempted burglary of a fuel tank, using registration plates assigned to another vehicle, driving while intoxicated and failing to stop for a roadside inspection. He will also face charges for causing a collision and driving without the required authorization.
Further activities conducted by police officers from Nowogrodziec made it possible to link the detainee to additional crimes. According to investigators, the man may be connected with a series of burglaries targeting the fuel tanks of trucks and thefts of diesel fuel that occurred from March to May of this year.
As a result, the 22-year-old was charged with a further nine offenses. The evidence collected indicates that the crimes may have involved the theft of nearly 5,000 litres of diesel fuel in total.
The suspect acted as a repeat offender, having previously been convicted of crimes against property. For this reason, he faces a sentence of up to 15 years in prison.
Meanwhile, the 48-year-old passenger was charged with attempting to burglarize the fuel tank of a truck. The court will decide the further fate of both men.
