Car chases are a part of global popular culture, and the filming of the most iconic movie car chases of all time spans more than a half century. Car chases aren't just for movie producers with bulging budgets, though. In April 2002, a bank robbery in Wrestedt, Germany, led to one of the longest and most dangerous police chases in history. Three armed men stormed the bank, fleeing with 200,000 Euros (about $175,000 at the time) and two female bank employees as hostages. The suspects drove off in a silver
SEAT while firing shots into the air, continued east out of Germany, covered the entire breadth of Poland, and crossed the border into Ukraine. SEAT (pronounced "SAY-ott") is a Spanish auto company and one of the lesser-known brands in the Volkswagen Auto Group.
Authorities from all three nations pursued the robbers for 1,300 km (just over 800 miles) as they drove at speeds up to 150 km/h (92 mph). Despite having multiple opportunities to intervene, Polish authorities chose not to use lethal force while the hostages remained in the car. CNN reported Polish Interior Minister Krysztof Janik as saying on national radio, "We could have stopped them many times, but the question is at what price?"
The chase led to logistical problems for law enforcement. Jurisdiction changed with every border crossing, and national and local police in the three countries had to coordinate efforts in real time. One hostage was able to escape unharmed when the SEAT ran low on gas near Lublin, Poland, and police later stopped the car near Rivne, Ukraine and arrested the robbers at gunpoint. The whole incident wouldn't have been out of place in a Hollywood blockbuster, and fortunately the dangerous chase and gunplay didn't result in any injuries or deaths.
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A Very Non-Traditional Road Trip
As the pursuit carried on into Poland, the robbers showed no signs of slowing down or giving up. With helicopters overhead and a couple dozen law enforcement units in pursuit, they sped east in their silver SEAT at speeds so fast it would have taken the best police cars of all time to catch them. But even robbers on the run need fuel, and it was during a pit stop near the city of Lublin that one of the hostages took her opportunity to escape.
The 39-year-old woman was forced out of the car to fill the tank and seized her moment. As the gunmen turned their attention elsewhere, she hid behind a pump before making it to a nearby police car. This was one of several stops for the getaway car; the robbers even pulled off the road elsewhere in Poland to buy a road map. The end came quietly, in stark contrast to everything that led up to it.
A Quiet Ending To A Chaotic Chase
More than 200 miles west of Kyiv near Rivne, the robbers' wild ride finally came to an end. Ukrainian police, tipped off well in advance, had set a blockade. Riot units and snipers were there and ready to act if the situation escalated, but there was no final standoff. The suspects pulled over and the two-day ordeal ended calmly; all three men were arrested without a fight and the stolen money was recovered.
Authorities had slipped the robbers a mobile phone during an earlier stop in Lutsk, Ukraine, and Oleksandr Hapon of the nation's Ministry of the Interior worked to convince them to release the second hostage. "I talked to them as a father," he told the BBC. "We used psychological pressure. That's our job." Even more than two decades later, the chase stands as one of Europe's most extraordinary law enforcement operations. It tested the limits of police coordination and left behind a story that reads more like a thriller than a news report. It may have even qualified the silver SEAT as one of the most infamous getaway cars of all time.
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