Chase from Brzeg

Police patrolling Brzeg spotted an ambulance shortly before 9:00 on Friday, 23 October, that matched a theft report from Lower Silesia. When the driver ignored signals to stop, officers gave chase, and the pursuit ran onto national road 94 toward Opole, between Łosiów and Leśniczówka, about 13 kilometres from Brzeg. Police said officers used service weapons during the attempt, and TVP Info and RMF FM both describe the shots as warning shots. Police reports say no one was hurt by gunfire. Additional units joined the chase, and officers set up road blocks along the route to stop the vehicle. The pursuit ended with the driver's arrest, and RMF FM places the stop in Łosiów, where a prosecutor and police were still working at the scene.

Officer struck at a road block

A female officer who tried to stop the ambulance was hit by it at one of the road blocks set up by patrols. Police say she is under medical care and that her life is not in danger. Patrycja Kaszuba, the Brzeg police spokesperson, gave the most direct account of her condition when she spoke to Polsat News.

“She is under the care of medics, and her life is not in danger.”

Kaszuba also told the outlet that nobody was injured by the gunfire. Police have not said whether the detained man had been drinking, and they have not disclosed his nationality. Proceedings with him were still under way when the reports were published.

Who the driver is

The driver was a 45-year-old man sought by Lower Silesian police, according to TVP Info. The outlet reports that he had earlier convictions for numerous frauds. Radio Wrocław reports that the ambulance was registered in Kamienna Góra and had been leased from a Lower Silesian bank. The owner had stopped paying the instalments, so police systems listed the vehicle as stolen in the region, which is why early reports placed the theft in Lower Silesia.

Earlier fraud and what comes next

Agnieszka Żyłka, spokesperson for the Opole Voivodeship Police headquarters, said the man had once driven an ambulance and used it to approach churches. In her account he told priests that he was the driver of an ambulance that had broken down, and he collected money that way. Police will now check whether the stolen vehicle was meant for similar fraud.

“We will check whether this time the stolen ambulance was meant to serve him for this type of fraud.”

Żyłka appealed to anyone who was defrauded in this way to contact the police. The detained man remains in police hands while the officers continue to work with him.