Foreigner attacks taxi driver in Zlín, Czechia: court orders custody

A court has remanded a 23-year-old foreigner in custody after an attack on a taxi driver in the centre of Zlín. According to police spokeswoman Šárka Trnková, officers spent several days dealing with a series of incidents involving him in the region, and acted within their legal powers each time they detained him.

What happened before the arrest

Police first encountered the man on 21 October, while investigating a property offence. The next day he was detained in Uherské Hradiště: he refused to show his identity documents, first to the municipal police and then to state police officers. After his identity and the legality of his stay in Czechia were established, the man was released.

He did not calm down. Shortly after 2 a.m. on 23 October, police say, he damaged the entrance door of a grocery store, causing about 90,000 crowns in damage. That evening, officers dealt with his inappropriate behaviour towards residents of the village of Hradčovice.

The young man then deliberately damaged a parked Tesla in Napajedla, causing about 45,000 crowns in damage, and afterwards attacked a taxi driver in the centre of Zlín.

Charges and court

During his arrest he resisted actively and damaged a police vehicle, and during further proceedings at the district police station he attacked an officer. According to Trnková, no signs of alcohol or other substances were found.

Investigators charged the man with hooliganism, damage to another person's property and violence against a public official. The court then decided to remand him in custody.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz