Hungarian authorities arrested a Polish national for striking a Hungarian border guard with his car on the night of Aug. 6 after officials tried to apprehend him near Ásotthalom, which is close to the Serbian border.
According to the prosecution, the 29-year-old Polish man was driving his car on Highway 55 near the Hungarian-Serbian border when he came close to a border guard checkpoint set up to catch human traffickers. The guards saw the Polish car suddenly turn onto a sandy road in a vineyard in response to the checkpoint, so they followed the vehicle after notifying the police.
The foreign man was driving at high speed on the narrow road when a separate police unit tried to stop him by signaling with lights. The Polish man, increasing his speed, drove towards the police, who were only able to avoid being hit by jumping into the wooded and bushy area next to the road.
The police officers were not injured, but at the same time, the senior sergeant who normally serves as a prison official, but was working near the border with the police, was struck by the open rear left door of the fleeing vehicle.
As a result of the collision, the officer suffered a broken arm and was transported to the hospital.
After striking the officer, the suspect continued to flee from the police at high speed before he crashed into a vehicle that was parked on the road.
Since the left front wheel of the suspect’s vehicle was broken, the perpetrator fled on foot, but the police caught him shortly after.
He is currently being charged with assaulting an official.
Although officers found no illegal immigrants in the suspect’s vehicle, they believe that he is involved in people smuggling.
This was the third case of violence involving a suspected people smuggler in a week.
On Aug. 6, a minivan carrying 20 illegal migrants crashed near Budapest after a 40-kilometer police chase, seriously injuring the majority of passengers.
Last Friday, a Georgian driver with 14 migrants who claimed to be Syrians broke away from the Hungarian police but crashed into another vehicle during the ensuing chase. The trafficker’s car caught fire, and two migrants sustained burn injuries. A third died after being transported to the hospital, and 10 were seriously injured.
