Photo: Shutterstock
Ilze Kalve/Latvijas Avīze
Lately, stories about Latvian long-distance drivers and tourists being robbed in Europe have been heard more and more often. Although statistics on such crimes are not compiled separately, the overall number of reported offenses in the European Union continues to rise each year. Summarizing data for 2023, Europol recorded 261,361 robbery cases, which is almost 3% more than the previous year.
A story recently appeared on social media by Inese Vēbere, about what her husband Dmitrijs, the owner of a transport company, experienced in Poland.
Inesа Veber, victim’s spouse
When he gives his drivers some time off, he takes the long trips himself. And this was one of those times — he was driving from Latvia to the United Kingdom with a commercial load. In Poland, at a Shell gas station, under security cameras, it happened during the night between 4 and 5 a.m. It was completely dark, though the gas station itself was well-lit. The attacker, therefore, could be clearly seen.
My husband had closed his eyes for a couple of hours — he wanted to lie down for a bit, since he still had about four hours to his next stop. He was in the vehicle and woke up to the sound of the car window being smashed — while he was still inside. The thief grabbed a small men’s bag that was right next to him, containing his documents and money.
The thief’s haul was quite substantial — 8,000 euros. Dmitrijs had stopped at a well-lit gas station on the road from Warsaw to Berlin.
Photo: Screenshot from Inese Vēbere social media account
From the heavy blow, when the glass started flying, he saw a hand, but he didn’t react. He couldn’t grab the hand — he only saw the hand take the bag. So somebody had apparently already been walking around the vehicle and using a flashlight to check what was inside and where things were.
He always locks the doors so they can’t be opened from outside; he never imagined someone would smash the window while he was still inside the car. At first he thought a vehicle had hit him. When you’ve just woken up you don’t understand what’s happening. The first thing he did, foolishly, was get out of the car and walk around it.
The moment when the bag was being stolen looked like something out of a movie. When he went out and realised the car itself was undamaged except for the smashed window — thank God he still had his phone, but he was left without documents and without a large sum of money. And also without the window, in the cold.
The main transit routes are, in fact, quite popular “workplaces” for highway robbers.
The police arrived; it was already half past four in the morning. They inspected the scene and found forensic evidence — the tool used to smash the window, a metal thing with sharp bits, was left right there.
A device like this — costing around 15 euros — is intended for escaping from a car in case of an accident, and in the manufacturer’s video, it’s clearly demonstrated how easily a car window can be shattered.
Of course, they immediately went to the petrol station and requested to see the CCTV footage. Watching the recordings, they saw a man in a mask, one person, who ran off towards the bushes/wooded area where the cameras don’t cover. The police examined it and said there was nothing they could do right away — wait until 9 am, when the criminal investigation unit would arrive.
From 5 am until 9 am he sat in the vehicle with the smashed window, because he couldn’t drive off — he had a load, and, God forbid, it might be stolen! This is your responsibility! He sat and waited for the criminal police. When they arrived, they said, sadly, that this happens every day in their work. They said there are three mafias — well, I don’t know what to call these groups. One is local Polish, another Ukrainian, the third Romanian.
Photo: Screenshot from Inesa Veber’s social media account
However, this incident in Poland is by no means the only one in recent times.
Sandra Stase
We experienced that our car window was smashed — my daughter and I were in the same vehicle. We saw him run away; he stole our bag. Fine, let them have our €1,000 or whatever it was. It won’t affect us that much. But remember — don’t sleep in your car. We had heard this happens but hadn’t taken it seriously. Now we experienced it ourselves.
Attacks on drivers occur all across Europe, and caution is needed even in other countries, including the United Kingdom.
Aldis Dzirkalis
At 5 a.m., in the dark, he offered me diesel at a bargain price. Even if he’d offered it for free, I wouldn’t have taken it! I chased him off quite politely. Driving down to the petrol station from a hill, I noticed the flat tyre. It was fortunate I needed to go to that petrol station — they couldn’t really do much there. But that was their idea: if they can’t get you out of the car so they can rob you, they’ll definitely slash the rear tyre on the roadside. And when you change that tyre, they steal everything from inside the car. That’s their scheme. As far as I know, it’s easier with cars. If your boot is open, your doors can be open as well.
Even experienced drivers have fallen victim — one was attacked by highway robbers in Germany not long ago.
Approaching Berlin, there is a car driving very slow in front of me. I remember that the car looked dirty. It overtook and afterwards I had this very strange feeling. I didn’t even understand why. I drove into some parking area, and the feeling was as if I was drunk. Then a guy comes up and tricks me into getting out. They’re not strong, but there are many of them — four or five. So he managed to trick me into coming out; I opened the door. I got hit in the head with some heavy object — it’s very lucky I blacked out — and that was it. They took my bag, which had a couple of hundred euros in it. They didn’t get into the van; they didn’t touch anything else, maybe they thought I was dead? They also kicked me a bit afterwards, as far as I could tell. When I woke up I got into the van, drove to the nearest police station; they called an ambulance, paramedics were nearby and took me to hospital. At the hospital they patched me up on the first day. Of course the Germans said I should stay in the hospital for two more days, but I couldn’t — I had €10,000 worth of goods in the vehicle.
Those traveling across the English Channel should be particularly careful of uninvited guests.
Inese Vēbere
He was driving a 3.5-ton van, carrying commercial cargo. At the French border they checked everything — documents and cargo. My husband, trying to lock the doors, noticed that the crates were oddly shifted and might move while driving. He tried to push the crates back against the wall but felt they were loose, wouldn’t budge. Inside the van it was dark, he couldn’t see what was going on because he didn’t have a flashlight. He pushed and the crates didn’t move. Then he saw four eyes staring out from behind those crates! He had already passed the border control, all documents had been checked, and he was ready to drive to the UK. But two black men were sitting inside! He slammed the van doors shut, ran back to the border guards and said: “Come back, check again, you didn’t notice two people!” If he had driven on to the United Kingdom like that, they would have put him in prison!
To stay safe, professionals recommend avoiding the most popular transit routes, not sleeping in cars parked by the roadside, and not getting out in isolated areas.
Meanwhile, the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs advises using the “Travel Safely” mobile app, which includes not only travel tips and information on potential risks, but also instructions on where to seek help in emergencies in each country.
