Six attackers attacked 59-year-old Rafał Kalinowski in West Bromwich, wanting to steal his electric bike. – They were riding in the opposite direction and were looking at my bike. I noticed that they turned around and were riding after me. One of them had a hammer – the Pole recalled in an interview with the “Daily Mail”. When the men pushed him off the bike, Kalinowski used a special defense spray on them and repelled the attack.
The British press on Thursday described the story of a 59-year-old Pole who, in the British town of West Bromwich, fought off an attack by a six-person gang trying to steal an electric bike worth six thousand pounds. A recording of the incident caused a sensation on the internet.
The attackers were armed with a hammerTikTok/raaftor
“They turned around and came after me. One of them had a hammer”
It all happened last week when Rafał Kalinowski, who has lived in the UK for 10 years and works as a warehouseman, was returning home from work.
– I thought something was wrong when I saw them driving (…) without license plates. They were driving in the opposite direction and were looking at me. I noticed that they turned around and were driving behind me. One of them had a hammer – the Pole told the “Daily Mail”. The men who followed him had balaclavas on their heads.
Six attackers pushed a riding Pole off the road onto the sidewalk, causing him to fall off his bike. Before they could take it away from him, Kalinowski pulled a self-defense spray can of red paint from his backpack, which he usually carries with him. He also began to swear in Polish, which – in his opinion – further confused the perpetrators.
Kalinowski recorded the attempted robbery with a mini-camera attached to his backpack. He then posted the video on TikTok and the X platform. (Below is the video published on TikTok. Warning – there are some curses)
As the Daily Telegraph, which also reports on the story, explains, the spray has a dual role – it irritates the eyes of attackers, giving the victim time to escape, and it also stays on the skin and clothes for several days, making it easier for police to identify the perpetrators.
The man treated them with a special sprayTikTok/raaftor
And indeed, thanks to this, the 59-year-old was summoned to the police the day after the case was reported to compare traces of paint on the clothes of those arrested with his spray. The police arrested four people – two 20-year-olds, an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old – in connection with the attempted theft of the Pole's bicycle and four other thefts or attempted thefts of bicycles, scooters and a mobile phone that day and the next.
Ultimately, the attackers did not take his bike away.TikTok/raaftor
Main image source: TikTok/raaftor