Chase in the Freistadt district: Czech fled at speeds of up to 190 km/h

Wild scenes took place in the Freistadt district on Tuesday morning: A car, fleeing from the police, raced along the state roads between Freistadt and Wullowitz at speeds of up to 190 km/h in early morning traffic, ignored children on the way to school and broke through several roadblocks before the The driver was caught in a forest near Leopoldschlag. What happened?

The police had been on the trail of a group of perpetrators for commercial theft for a long time. Burglaries in apartment buildings and underground car parks, theft of motorcycles, e-bikes, bicycles and complete bicycles: the list of crimes that are said to be committed by the Czechs is long. On Tuesday morning two men were arrested in the Mühlviertel. They are said to have repeatedly entered Austria via the Wullowitz border crossing in order to go on a thieving spree.

At up to 190 km/h across the district

As the police reported on Tuesday evening, officers from the State Criminal Police Office had positioned themselves in the border area on Tuesday night. In fact, the vehicle we were looking for with a Czech license plate was spotted at the border crossing at around 2 a.m. and around 6:45 a.m. at the Freistadt city exit in the direction of Wullowitz. A second car stopped next to the car. The two drivers chatted before driving together towards the border.

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Just a good six minutes later, the handcuffs clicked for one of the perpetrators in the Rainbach municipal area: a roadblock stopped the 35-year-old Czech, while his 31-year-old accomplice broke through the barrier and sped away at far too high speed on the L 1482 in the direction of Lichtenau. Regardless of the early traffic and children on the way to school, the Czech drove at up to 190 km/h through the towns of Lichtenau, Prendt, Windhaag, Mairspint, Hammern, Leopoldschlag and on the B 310 back to Rainbach.

Escape ended in forest

There, shortly after 7 a.m., he broke through another roadblock with a tilted truck and drove towards Lichtenau again. When he noticed another barrier in Leopoldschlag, he turned left in the town center onto a municipal road that led steeply uphill, which finally ended in a forest. The driver tried to flee on foot in the dense forest area towards the southeast, but was arrested by investigators a short time later.

A drug test was positive and revealed that he was unfit to drive. Officers found high-priced stolen goods in both vehicles. The two detainees were initially taken to the Linz police detention center, but will be transferred to Lower Austria for further questioning. The men can also expect charges of resistance to state authority and traffic offenses.