Belgian-style Fast and Furious: the incredible chase of a Brussels police officer onto French soil to recover his motorbike!

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On the night of March 26, around 3 a.m., NK was woken up by his phone. The application connected to the GPS tracker installed in his motorcycle-scooter tells him that his Yamaha is on the highway towards France. The data displayed in real time shows that the machine is moving towards Nivelles. Without taking the time to think, the Brussels resident grabs the keys to his car and sets off on his scooter.

The bike was stored in his garage, secured with several anti-theft devices. Nothing to stop the thieves. With a few swings of the saw, the criminals removed all the locks before taking the 15,000 euro Yamaha into their van. A most classic modus operandi, a well-established routine completed in around twenty minutes before heading to France. Bad luck for the criminals, that night, they came across the wrong person.

NK lives in Leeuw-Saint-Pierre. He works as an intervention police officer in the Brussels-West zone (Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Jette, Ganshoren, Berchem-Sainte-Agathe and Koekelberg). “Purses are my specialty,” he will say.

One eye glued to the Flashbird app, the other eye measuring the road, NK speeds along the E429 motorway. Accustomed to driving with one hand with the phone in the other, he contacts his colleagues to ask them to send the traffic police. After a break to refuel, he catches up with the van in which his motorcycle is located. Spotted, the driver then tries to lose him. A Golf GTI with a German plate comes between the police officer in his personal car and the van. Inside, accomplices who multiply the brakes and fish tails to discourage him from following them.

NK is a Brussels police officer who had his motorcycle stolen and got it back after an incredible story. ©Bernard Demoulin

As they approached Tournai, two police patrols joined them and chased the van. The Golf flees. The utility vehicle does not budge, despite the song of the sirens and the strobes of the flashing lights. The traffic police try to pull him back onto the emergency lane, to push him to leave the fast lane, but the driver seems determined to reach France. Which is clever. Past Tournai, approaching the border, the Belgian police give up. “They were ordered not to continue, even though there were still several kilometers in France.”

NK doesn’t want to lose his motorcycle. Due to lack of battery, his GPS tracker turned off. NK has no choice but to keep the van in his sights if he wants his Yamaha back. Arriving in France, the utility vehicle continues its mad chase as if freed from the risk of being caught. But that’s without counting on the determination and relentlessness of the Brussels resident. The first few minutes, the time it takes to roam, his phone no longer has a network. No way to call for reinforcements. His colleagues had contacted the Tournais service which was to relay the information to the French forces. But the message did not get through. So there he is alone in the direction of Roubaix behind the thieves’ van.

A Golf GTI came between the van and the police car. ©DR

To try to lose him, the bandit crosses towns at full speed, takes roundabouts in the wrong direction, runs red lights, is flashed by speed cameras. NK does the same. As soon as the network returns, he contacts 17. As he approaches Raismes, the Golf GTI is waiting for him and once again blocking his way. To avoid him without stopping, the policeman swerves onto the sidewalk. Bac patrols begin to join him. A police procession then chases the van, which continues to tear through the night. “Around ten vehicles were pursuing the van.”

To block the driver, the French police threw Stop Stick portcullises in front of his wheels. This device bristling with spikes which stretches in the middle of the road tears the tires of the fugitive. Here he continues his rush on almost bare rims, at 40 km/h. He ended up abandoning his van in a wood near Raismes. Chased by the police, on foot this time, he was finally intercepted and then… released after a night in police custody. Judgment is scheduled for July 25, 2024.

The tires of the thieves’ van were torn up by French police harrows. ©DR

NK was able to recover her motorcycle, which was seriously damaged after the chaotic rodeo she experienced. Cost of damage: around 3,500 euros. But that’s without taking into account the speed fines and multiple fines that the police officer will have to endure if he does not benefit from the judge’s leniency. After the Fast and Furious episode, it’s time for administrative hassles.