Haan/Wuppertal (dpa/lnw) – After being chased by a patrol car on the Autobahn and on foot in downtown Wuppertal, the police caught two suspected car thieves. The two men, aged 23 and 42, were traveling in a van and the driver suddenly accelerated during a check on Wednesday night, the police said. The car later turned out to be stolen and was secured.
The two were noticed by a patrol during the night in Haan (Mettmann district). The driver ignored the stop signals and drove far too quickly on the autobahn to Wuppertal, 15 kilometers away. There he tried to shake off the police with sometimes daring maneuvers, it said. Bystanders were not endangered.
At a construction site, the alleged thieves could not get any further – they then fled on foot. The police officers first caught up with the 42-year-old. The alleged thief and an officer were injured while escaping and were taken to the hospital to be checked. The 23-year-old was also located shortly afterwards and arrested.