She withdrew half a million zlotys from the bank. On the way home, she noticed that her tire was probably flat. She stopped to check it out. Two tires were flat. The moment she spent outside the car was enough for the bag of cash to disappear.
This incident took place in March this year. A 41-year-old woman from Katowice withdrew a large sum of money from the bank and was driving home. While driving, she noticed that her tire was probably flat, so she stopped and got out to check what happened. It turned out that someone had punctured two of her tires. When the woman returned to the car, she realized that the bag containing PLN 500,000 had disappeared.
After the theft, he returned to Georgia
“Mysłowice criminal investigators reviewed recordings from nearby surveillance cameras, identified potential witnesses of the event and analyzed the collected data. As a result of these activities, they managed to identify the probable perpetrator. However, the selected 32-year-old Georgian citizen left for his homeland after the incident,” the Silesian police said in a press release.
However, they kept trying to track him down. A few days ago, they received information that he was in Poland, in one of the towns near Warsaw. They detained him there too.
In the prosecutor’s office in Mysłowice, he was charged with stealing a significant amount of money. The prosecutor asked for pre-trial detention against the 32-year-old, which the court agreed to. The man is currently in custody. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
A 32-year-old man is suspected of stealing using the “wheel method”Silesian police
A call for caution
Criminals using the so-called They usually operate near banks, shopping malls or ATMs. They usually choose more expensive cars, then puncture their tires or leave a special spike, and then observe the driver as he drives away. The driver usually realizes only after a while that he has a flat tire and stops to check what exactly happened. This is when thieves run up to the car, take valuable items from inside and then disappear with the loot. · Be suspicious, especially if a fault occurs after using an ATM or leaving a shopping center. If you leave the car, turn off the engine and lock the vehicle. · If you decide to repair a wheel, close the car door. Remember not to leave any valuable items on the roof or hood of your car during the exchange, especially handbags, purses or wallets with cash. · Instead of spikes, criminals can use a plastic bottle or a wire placed in the wheel arch, which is supposed to simulate a vehicle fault by making noise. · It also happens that one of the thieves offers his help in changing a wheel to better distract the driver’s attention.
Main photo source: Silesian police