Mayhem in Birkirkara as bail-breaker tries to evade police

A 37-year-old man from St Paul’s Bay caused mayhem in Birkirkara on Friday night, with shots being fired and cars being damaged.

The police said that at 1am yesterday, while officers of the Rapid Intervention Unit and Criminal Investigation Department were carrying out road checks on the Birkirkara Bypass in the direction of Lija, they noticed that the driver of a Volkswagen Passat had parked the vehicle on the side of the road and had switched off the lights.

Soon afterwards, the driver, a 37-year-old of St Paul’s Bay, reversed up a considerable stretch of the road and turned towards Birkirkara church.

Upon seeing this, the police gave chase but the driver increased speed and began to drive recklessly.

At one point, the officers managed to surround the vehicle with their squad cars, but the Passat driver reversed into one of the police vehicles. It was then that the officers used their handguns to fire shots at the Passat’s tyres in an attempt to stop the driver.

The driver, however, continued to flee, also using a one-way road to try to escape, but the RIU officers eventually caught up with him and arrested him.

The police said that the man in question had been in breach of his bail conditions, having been outside when he was supposed to be confined to his residence. The vehicle he was using had foreign number plates.

Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech is conducting an inquiry.