Policeman in Gothenburg let partner escape – charged with misconduct

The police were alerted about a suspected drunk driving woman in Gothenburg last spring.
Then her partner, a policeman, went to the scene and let her escape before the patrol arrived, according to the suspects.
Now he is charged with misconduct.

A member of the public called the police one afternoon at the end of May this year after seeing a woman walk unsteadily and then get into a car in Gothenburg.

The private individual stood in front of the woman’s car and prevented her from driving away. The woman then admitted that she had drunk wine, according to the interrogation, but tried to leave. The public then applied the handbrake and stopped her while waiting for the police patrol to arrive.

But when the police later arrived at the scene, the woman had disappeared. Instead, her partner, a retired police inspector, was there.

The witness: The police urged the woman to leave

According to the investigation, the suspected drunken woman had called her roommate in connection with being stopped by members of the public. Off-duty officers are normally required to go on duty when a crime is suspected, but the partner did not intervene or do anything else to ensure that she remained at the scene until the patrol arrived.

Instead, he even urged her to leave, according to witnesses.

Now the police inspector is charged with misconduct. According to the prosecutor, his actions led to the investigation into drunk driving against the woman being “seriously hampered”. This as she was able to “object to the fact that she drank alcohol after driving, so-called after-drinking”.

The accused police officer denies both the crime and that he urged the partner to leave the scene.

t4-general