The madness began at 19:00 on Wednesday last week.
A police detective, who was in a store in Nykvarn on a completely different matter, discovered that one of the customers looked under the influence of alcohol and got into a car and drove north at high speed.
Several patrols took up the pursuit of the car on the E4. The journey, which according to the police went at upwards of 200 km/h, then continued into central Stockholm.
The chased car drove between other vehicles, changed lanes frequently, on one occasion in the wrong direction and even collided with a police car. Due to the dangerous driving, the officer on duty at the police command center decided to call off the pursuit at Västerbron.
Shortly afterwards, witnesses at outdoor cafes at Hornsgatan on Södermalm saw the Audi come at “insane speed” and drive straight into a taxi at an intersection. There were no brake marks at the scene.
Confession: Went crazy fast
The taxi was thrown eleven meters and the passenger was knocked unconscious. He was rushed to hospital and was initially assessed to be critically injured. The taxi driver, the 52-year-old insane driver and his passenger in the Audi also had to be taken to hospital.
TV4 Nyheterna has previously been able to tell that the 52-year-old is a known repeat offender who for almost three decades repeatedly drove under the influence of alcohol and without a driver’s license. Since 1995, he has committed 115 crimes in traffic or with vehicles and escaped prosecution in a further nine cases.
Last Friday, the 52-year-old was arrested for the car chase and the crash due to the risk that he “continues his criminal activities”. In connection with that, he admitted gross negligence in traffic, drunk driving and gross illegal driving.
In the police interrogation, which TV4 Nyheterna has now taken part in, the 52-year-old explains the confession by saying that “he probably drove a little carelessly” and that “it must have gone fast, or crazy fast”.
– It was probably a 90-mile road there, he says, adding that he “didn’t think about the speed when he was driving.”
When asked by the police exactly how fast he was driving, he replies:
– If you check the speedometer while driving, it is negligent. You have to keep an eye on the traffic.
“The police are careless – a cat-and-mouse game”
The 52-year-old insane driver also states that he “doesn’t want to throw crap at the police” but that:
– The police are careless when they start chasing cars when there are a lot of cars around. Their duty is not to endanger the lives of others, and they ignore them.
Later during the interrogation with the police, he says that he drank “a few beers” and that “getting in the car was a damn stupid gamble”. The man also says that the Audi is an acquaintance and that he took the spare keys to the car, and that he “deeply regrets the journey today”.
– I feel sorry for those who were involved in the taxi, says the 52-year-old.
When the police ask how he thinks about recidivism, that he has been convicted several times for driving without a license, the man replies:
– Probably a driving addict.
– You should probably stay, if right is to be right. Don’t know what happened yesterday (Sunday) It’s regrettable that it turned out the way it did, he says and tells later that he didn’t stop out of fear as the police had previously driven into his car from behind when he stopped.
“Feel sorry for the injured”
The passenger who sat next to the 52-year-old during the police chase and in the taxi crash tells the police that he told the repeat offender several times to stop the car and that he ran a red light in Hornstull when the collision occurred. However, the 52-year-old himself states that he did not hear it because the music was too loud.
He also describes it as “damnable” that two are being treated in hospital, one of whom has serious injuries.
– Feel sorry for the two of them and think it’s bad. It is clear that it is terrible. Hope it will go well for the injured.
Convicted of 124 traffic offences
TV4 Nyheterna has been able to map the 52-year-old’s criminal history back to 1995.
Convicted for 96 cases of traffic offences.
Convicted of 19 counts of vehicle-related offences.
Received waiver of prosecution for five cases of traffic offences.
Received waiver of prosecution for four cases of vehicle-related crimes.
Among the crimes are a long list of illegal driving, drunk driving and several cases of negligence in traffic. Also for fleeing the scene of an accident.