Overview
- Police tried to stop a 35-year-old man in Hamm but he ignored signals and fled at high speed with two minors in the back seat during a multi-road chase that ran onto the A2 and through local streets.
- Officers broke off the live pursuit because continuing it would have risked other road users, and forces from Dortmund and Unna plus a police helicopter later found the vehicle parked in Dortmund‑Scharnhorst.
- An off-duty Dortmund officer saw the man leave the car and run on foot, and an on-duty patrol arrested him shortly afterward while the two children were found unharmed with their legal guardian.
- Investigators discovered the car carried licence plates that did not belong to it, seized the Mercedes, the driver’s licence and the suspect’s mobile phone, and opened probes for endangering road traffic and licence-plate misuse.
- Police are asking anyone who was endangered or who has dashcam or witness footage to contact the Hamm police as authorities reconstruct the chase and identify possible additional victims.