59-year-old woman damages two fuel stations in Nowy Targ and Białka, caught after police chase
The chase that ended the rampage covered 36 km from the second station, ending in Podczerwone near Czarny Dunajec, where her car hit a police vehicle and then a property fence.
A warning at the first station
On Saturday morning, around 7 a.m., police were called to a fuel station on the road out of Nowy Targ toward Białka Tatrzańska. Witnesses reported that a woman was throwing paper waste out of her car. Officers checked her in police systems, found that she was not wanted and that she was sober, and gave her a warning for the offence before the patrol drove off. The woman stayed at the station, and about an hour later a new report came in: she was behaving irrationally and blocking customers from the entrance to the building.
Damage at two stations
According to Łukasz Burek, the Nowy Targ police spokesman, she then got back into her black Land Rover and damaged four vehicles, a motorcycle and the facade of the station building, driving the front of the car into the entrance. Gazeta Krakowska reported that other drivers approached her car, but she would not get out and reversed away toward Białka Tatrzańska. Firefighters were also called to the scene.
At the Orlen station in Białka Tatrzańska, the damage was similar. Polsat News reported that she damaged four cars and the entrance, while Gazeta Krakowska counted three cars. Several people were inside the station at the time. A driver who tried to get her attention had his vehicle rammed, and he was injured and taken to hospital. She then reversed and drove off.
Police search and chase
By then, police had issued a description of her vehicle and were looking for her. Burek said:
All police patrols have been informed about the 59-year-old woman driving a black Land Rover, and they are to stop her. We are intensifying efforts to detain her. We have all her details.
Katarzyna Cisło, the Lesser Poland police spokesperson, said that officers from the Nowy Targ and Tatra counties coordinated their work and set up roadblocks. A police helicopter was readied for the search, but ground patrols were ultimately enough.
Police officers from the Nowy Targ and Tatra counties coordinated their actions, setting up roadblocks. A police helicopter was also prepared for the search, but in the end ground patrols were enough.
Around 11:10, officers spotted the searched car and followed it. Gazeta Krakowska reported that the pursuit ended in Podczerwone in the Czarny Dunajec municipality. The woman struck a police vehicle and then stopped against the fence of a private property by the road, which is 36 km from the Białka station, according to Polsat News.
- Patrol at the Nowy Targ fuel station warns the woman over paper waste and then leaves
- Woman damages four vehicles, a motorcycle and the station building in Nowy Targ, then drives toward Białka Tatrzańska
- Woman damages more cars and the station entrance; a driver who tries to stop her is rammed and taken to hospital
- Police spot the black Land Rover and begin a pursuit
- Car hits a police vehicle, then stops against a property fence and the woman is detained
What happens next
The woman, described as a 59-year-old from Mazovia, is to be examined, and officers will carry out further procedural steps with her. Police are establishing the detailed circumstances of the incidents. Witnesses told police that she behaved irrationally, and Burek described her as strangely agitated.
