By Constantinos Psillides
A 20-year-old soldier from Paphos was arrested on Thursday morning, after leading the police on an extended car chase through the city, police said.
According to the police report, in the early hours, the 20-year old was spotted by a police patrol running a red light near the courthouse area and was signalled to pull over.
The soldier, who was driving a black pick-up truck, refused to comply and sped away. The police gave chase but lost the truck near the Anavargos area.
The truck was seen by another police patrol car at 4.30am at the Mesogi area. Officers signalled the 20-year-old to stop but he sped away again. According to the report, they notified headquarters and another patrol car that was in the area joined the chase by cutting off the truck.
Instead of stopping, the driver then did a u-turn, crashed into the pursuing patrol car as well as two other cars that were parked nearby. The soldier fled again, only to find a roadblock further down the road.
This time officers shot five times at the truck’s tires but the 20-year-old eluded them once more, this time by partially destroying the wall of a house. He was finally arrested when the car broke down.
The 20-year-old was remanded for two days by the Paphos district court.
In a second car chase that took place on Thursday morning in the Paphos district, police arrested a 26-year-old man who was previously wanted in relation to a series of burglaries and thefts.
According to the police report, the 26-year-old was spotted in a car along with two other men and was asked to stop at a police checkpoint. He sped away and was quickly followed by the patrol car.
A roadblock was set and when he arrived there officers fired three warning shots in the air. The 26-year-old stopped at the side of the road and agreed to a search of his car. Police said they found in his possession “a number of narcotic substitutes in pill form along with a scales”.
The suspect said he was taking the pills for medical purposes. A background check conducted revealed that the 26-year-old had outstanding warrants for his arrest so he was taken to the police station. The two other men were charged and released.
The 26-year-old is expected to appear before the Paphos district court.
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