Zoom Image
Police in Berlin (symbolic image)
Photo: fhm / Moment RF / Getty Images
A Berlin police chief inspector is said to have stopped a motorist and robbed him of tens of thousands of euros. The 48-year-old was arrested and suspended with immediate effect, the prosecutor's office and police said.
In his apartment and in the offices used by him, evidence had been secured during searches on Monday. However, the commissioner is at large. An arrest warrant against him was suspended, according to authorities. According to the investigation, the policeman is said to have had an accomplice in the crime. However, this has remained unknown so far.
The duo is said to have waved out and stopped a motorist on July 19 at around 23:15 p.m. on the Berlin city highway near Messedamm with special signals and a police trowel. The police officer, who was already in the evening at that time, is said to have been traveling in the civilian service car of his directorate. According to the investigation, he wore his uniform and had his service weapon in his holster. The 62-year-old had been given the impression that it was a proper police measure.
During the alleged check, the officer and his accomplice are said to have handcuffed the driver and brought him into the police car. Then they are said to have taken more than 57,000 euros in cash and two mobile phones from his car. The 62-year-old is said to have received a seizure protocol – on which the confiscated money was not recorded.
Why the driver had so much cash with him is still unclear. The question of the origin of the money is also part of the investigation, said a spokesman for the Berlin public prosecutor's office. It will also have to be clarified why exactly this man was taken out of circulation.
bbr/dpa