Gang of fake police officers robbed sleeping drivers on the D1 highway

Police in the Vysočina Region have detained three men who posed as police officers to rob drivers sleeping in their cars at highway rest stops along the D1. According to the regional police press office, the incident that triggered the investigation took place on Wednesday, July 22, at around four in the morning at a rest area near the 96th kilometre of the D1, in the direction of Prague.

The three men spotted a parked Audi with passengers asleep inside. Two of them began banging on the car, shining a flashlight through the windows and shouting "Police!" until the startled occupants unlocked the doors. The moment the door opened, the attackers grabbed a man's bag, pulled the cash out of the wallet, tossed the wallet aside, and fled deeper into the parking area before driving off in an unknown direction.

The victims immediately called the police, who launched a search for the attackers. Footage from surveillance cameras helped identify the getaway car — a Volkswagen Golf. The vehicle was later spotted by police in South Moravia in Brno, where all three suspects were arrested.

The investigation revealed that the gang was behind four other similar robberies on Czech highways, each carried out using a different method. In one case, the men took advantage of a truck driver who had left his cab unlocked and stole cash from inside. In another, they climbed in through an open window.

In yet another episode, the fraudsters staged a car breakdown and asked a truck driver for help: while one of them kept the driver talking, the other slipped into the cab and made off with the cash.

The most recent known incident took place at the "Devět křížů" rest stop on the D1 heading toward Brno. After breaking the lock, the men got into a car where the driver was asleep and stole his personal belongings, including documents, cash and bank cards.

Following the investigation, all three suspects were formally charged. According to Jan Pfeffer, head of the general crime department, the two older men, aged 30 and 28, face charges of robbery committed as accomplices, repeated petty theft, as well as the illegal production and use of counterfeit payment instruments. The youngest member of the group, aged 20, has been charged with theft.

All three defendants have confessed to every episode and voluntarily surrendered the cash found on them at the time of arrest. The two older suspects remain in custody and face up to ten years in prison. The third member of the group is being prosecuted while at liberty.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz