Arrest still in the night - Two men are burning, allegedly due to a car race
A picture of the burnt-out wreck of the Porsche in the dense bushwork along the A44 speaks volumes: It is likely that at an illegal race, and at high speed, the driver of the sports car lost control at the Dortmund/Unna motorway intersection.
The car veered off the road, splitting through several trees and immediately went up in flames, as the police reported. The two occupants - a 20-year-old and a 52-year-old man from Dortmund - died. According to dpa information, they were father and son.
Witnesses report high speeds
Early on, there is cause for the police to suspect that the driver of a highly motorized Mercedes was the starting point for the fatal accident: "We had witnesses at the scene who could make very precise statements about what happened in the moments leading up to the accident," said a police spokesperson.
Several witnesses reportedly observed how the Porsche and Mercedes were racing on the section before the intersection with excessively high speed. There, the road has narrow lanes and a speed limit. From this, the initial suspicion of an illegal race has arisen, which is now being investigated.
Flight and arrest no two hours later
Unlike the witnesses and first responders, who stayed, the Mercedes is said to have fled from the scene. However, its license plate number was read, leading to a provisional arrest a little later: Less than two hours after the accident, a 39-year-old was arrested at his residence in Dortmund. The investigators seized his car, his driver's license, his cell phone, and the clothing of the man. After being interrogated, he was released at night.
Out of respect for the families, the police do not name any details about the fatal victims. Who was behind the wheel is still the subject of investigation, as is whether the 39-year-old knew the two men in the Porsche and how the alleged race came about.
Detailed reconstruction of the accident sequence
"We are really still at the beginning of the investigation," said the police spokesperson. The detailed reconstruction of the accident could take weeks. Witness statements, traces from the autobahn, information from the on-board electronics of the two vehicles, and other evidence must be evaluated. "Like a puzzle, a complete picture emerges, with which we try to prove potentially culpable behavior," said the police spokesperson.
Banned races keep investigators and courts busy across Germany. Just a few hours before the Porsche burned out in Unna, the Regional Court of Hannover had sentenced a 42-year-old woman and a 41-year-old man to prison terms. The two had staged a race in the Lower Saxon Barsinghausen in 2022, resulting in the deaths of two children.
The woman was sentenced to life imprisonment, her German-Italian racing rival to four years. The judgment was handed down for manslaughter in two cases, attempted manslaughter, grievous bodily harm, and an illegal race resulting in death.
Banned races are a criminal offense
In October 2017, banned car races were upgraded from an administrative offense to a criminal offense. Since then, participation in such races can be punished with prison sentences. Previously, only fines were imposed. Paragraph 315d of the Criminal Code sees up to ten years in prison for causing another person's death through an illegal car race.
- The driver of the Porsche, presumably participating in an illegal race with a highly motorized Mercedes-Benz, failed to maintain control at the Dortmund/Unna motorway intersection.
- The arrest of the Mercedes driver, who fled the scene after the accident, was made based on the license plate number read by witnesses.
- In North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, a 39-year-old man was taken into custody in relation to the Unna accident involving a Porsche and a Mercedes-Benz.
- The two men in the Porsche, a 20-year-old and a 52-year-old from Dortmund, lost their lives in the high-speed traffic accident.
- Authorities suspect that the Porsche and Mercedes were racing in the traffic near Dortmund before the crash, leading to suspicion of an illegal race.
- The police in Unna are investigating whether the arrested individual had any connection with the two victims in the Porsche, as well as the circumstances leading to the alleged race.
