Teen driving student chases down criminals fleeing in getaway van

A 17-year-old girl found herself in what sounds like an action movie on Tuesday. Natasja de Jong and her driving instructor were in the midst of a driving lesson in Emmeloord, when they ended up in the midst of a police chase, RTL Nieuws reports.

Natasha and 21-year-old driving instructor Beau Linting were busy with the girl's 15th driving lesson, when they were cut off by a white van. The van's back doors were still open and the girls saw someone jump out to close them. "We first thought: that's weird, but all is well", instructor Beau said to the broadcaster. Until a Coop employee jumped into their car and yelled "Follow that van, fast!"

"I've had some driving lessons, but this was really weird", Natasha said. "I thought: what now? Should I keep to the rules, or should I listen to what you say?" Beau gave her a nod and the teenager and driving instructor gave chase, with the Coop employee still in the back seat. 

The chase lasted for around 30 minutes. "We went through all of Emmeloord, then over the highway and finally we ended up in a residential neighborhood in Ens", Beau said. She doesn't think the thieves even realized they were being followed. "They obviously never expected to be chased by a driving school car." 

In the residential neighborhood, the police arrived and put the thieves in handcuffs. Their loot turned out to be somewhat disappointing - a few empty vegetable crates. "We really thought they had emptied a vault or something, there was so much panic", Beau said.

While telling a teenager to chase down a van full of thieves is not something to be lauded, Natasha and Beau at least didn't get into trouble with the police. "The officers could not stop laughing when we told them what happened. They also did not believe us at first", Beau said. Natasha added. "At that moment I really thought: this is a movie. Fortunately everything went help and we could also help"