Interceptat per @mossos i @barcelona_GUB un camió de butà que circulava envestint vehicles i que ha accedit contradirecció a les rondes. pic.twitter.com/prJcqHJjmK
— policia.cat (@policiacat) February 21, 2017
A driver of a stolen truck caused an outbreak of fear in Barcelona as he ploughed the lorry packed full of gas canisters through the streets.
Joakim Robin Berggren had spent £16,000 in the last 24-hours, on drugs, booze and sleeping with prostitutes before stealing the vehicle, the Daily Mail reports.
The previously intoxicated Swedish man, took the truck the morning after his bender and led police on a two-mile chase through around the city.
Aquest és el camió de butà sostret i que ha circulat fugint de la policia i envestint vehicles pic.twitter.com/3BmuyV7DMe
— policia.cat (@policiacat) February 21, 2017
After trailing the lorry for two-miles, police fired seven shots at the 32-year-old, to halt the vehicle at 10:30am yesterday.
The driver has since been taken to a psychiatric centre, after fears he was embarking on a terror attack similar to those which happened in Nice and Berlin last year.
Jordi Jane, the Catalan Interior minister claimed the man’s actions had been ‘improvised and not planned’ and revealed he had attempted to steal other vehicles before reaching the truck.
La imatge del dia és el moment en que @barcelona_GUB i @mossos detenien al conductor que fugia temeràriament amb un camió de butà sostret pic.twitter.com/p5lkelNAEm
— policia.cat (@policiacat) February 21, 2017
La Vanguardia, a Catalan newspaper, disclosed Berggren had already been arrested for possession of drugs and drink-driving in his homeland of Sweden.
Catalan Police are currently waiting on information regarding previous convictions and results from a toxicology, to find out if drugs were also a factor in his rampage.
Terrorism as a motive behind the incident has since been ruled out, as Mr Jane believed he chose the lorry because the keys were left in the ignition.
En pl. Carbonera pierde 14 bombonas #butano. Lo ha ignorado y sigue moll fusta. Perseguido @mossos y @barcelona_GUB pic.twitter.com/1BL8UIIjIY
— Guillem Sànchez (@guillem_sm) February 21, 2017
He said in a press conference:
We are dealing with an individual whose state of mind was affected by his night out and wanted to drive any vehicle he could find at the time.
Stopping vehicles he tried but failed to get his hands on a motorbike, and finally the truck with the gas bottles on it which he could easily take because the keys were in the ignition and the door was open. Therefore, no planning.Just as he ended up taking the truck, he could have made off with any other vehicle.
During his illegal drive, witnesses claim to have seen Berggren ‘laughing like a maniac’ as he tore through the streets.
Policia CatalanIn is speech, Mr Jane thanked police for saving the life of a woman, who was about to step in front of the vehicle’s path and for putting ‘their lives at risk.’
Berggren is still being detained in the psychiatric unit until further notice.
