On the run from the police, a man sped his car down the popular Seltersweg last summer. He had drugs and alcohol in his blood. On Tuesday, the 29-year-old was tried at the Giessen district court.
Judge Sonja Robe holds a sheet of paper in her hands. It is described on both sides. Robe attests that the author has a beautiful handwriting, “and not a single spelling mistake.” Nevertheless, the paper is about a mistake. This “open letter” was written by Jan Müller (name changed). In it he asks for forgiveness from the people he almost ran over on July 11, 2020 on the Seltersweg. Robe describes the fact that everyone got away with the horror as “damn good luck.” On Tuesday, Müller was sentenced to one year and nine months imprisonment at the Giessen District Court for dangerous interference with road traffic, driving without a license, negligent drunk driving and attempted dangerous physical harm. However, the 29-year-old does not have to go to prison: the jury suspended the sentence on probation.
July 11, 2020 is a Saturday. The first wave of the corona pandemic has subsided and normality has returned in many areas of public life. This is also the case in downtown Giessen. The shops have reopened and the Seltersweg is well attended. Meanwhile, according to senior public prosecutor Frank Späth, Müller is sitting in his car and driving along Ludwigstrasse.
At 50 km / h over the busy Seltersweg
With alcohol and amphetamines in the blood, stolen license plates and a missing driver’s license. He’s not buckled up either. The latter falls on a police patrol, the noticeable lane changes also make the officers suspicious. But there is no control: Instead of stopping as requested, Müller presses the gas and engages in a wild chase with the police. Among other things, it leads over the Neue Bäue and Johannesstrasse. In the end, Müller drives to Seltersweg, where the officers can then cut off his path and arrest him.
The fact that nobody was harmed on the busy shopping street borders on a miracle. According to a report that Judge Robe read out, Müller had raced through the Seltersweg at at least 50 km / h, the braking distance was therefore almost 22 meters. According to Späth, some passers-by were just able to avoid it. The situation in front of the Karstadt bakery was particularly dangerous, where a group of people jumped from their chairs at the last moment. “Among them was a pregnant woman,” said Späth, emphasizing that a woman with a pram would hardly have had a chance to evade.
“I’m really glad that nothing happened to anyone,” emphasized Müller in court on Tuesday. He found similar words in the letter he wrote shortly after the crime in custody. The defendant did not want to comment on the details of the “life-threatening chaos journey,” as Späth called it. But he described why he was simply “off the track” at that time.
“My girlfriend and I broke up. I later found out that she was pregnant and had an abortion without my knowledge. ”This“ stroke of fate ”threw him off course, in the meantime he had no apartment and slept in his car.
Pregnant just evades
On the day of the tattoo, when Müller had a rather small amount of alcohol (0.6 per mille) but all the more amphetamines in his blood, everything had become too much for him. “I didn’t know what to do with me.” He described the chase as a short-circuit reaction.
Both Chief Public Prosecutor Späth and Judge Robe certified the defendant with a positive prognosis. This was also due to a benevolent report from his supervisor from assisted living, where Müller has been living for some time. They also rated his efforts to find a job positively. Above all, however, both were of the opinion that Müller sincerely regretted his act.
In court, defendants would often pay lip service, said Späth. “I think you mean it seriously.” He therefore considered a suspended sentence with 150 working hours to be sufficient. The defendant should be able to reapply for his driver’s license after a period of two years.
Defender Tomasz Kurcab apparently found this fair, his demand was only slightly below. And judge Robe also largely followed. It only lowered the blocking period for the driver’s license. “A driver’s license is important to many employers,” said Robe, then added, “That is a sign that we believe in you.”
The defendant was relieved. He had apparently succeeded in convincing the public prosecutor and court of what he had already written in his letter: that he regretted the act with all his heart. And that he was actually “a really nice guy”.
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