Suspected car thief killed in crash with police vehicle

A man was killed in an accident with a police car in Riethoven, Noord-Brabant during the early hours of Monday morning. He was driving a car stolen from Waalre around 15 minutes before the crash, the Oost-Brabant police said on Twitter.

According to the police, patrolling officers spotted the car in question shortly after receiving a report of the car theft and gave chase. When the police went around a bend on Hobbel, the stolen car was standing stationary in the middle of the road. The police officers could not prevent a collision. This happened at around 1:45 a.m.

Traffic experts from another police unit were called in to investigate. They concluded that, out of sight of the chasing police officers, the suspected car thief hit a tree and the car rolled back onto the street. The officers were unable to prevent a collision, causing the man to be thrown from the car. 

The officers tried to resuscitate the man, but it was to no avail. He died at the scene.

The police suspect that the man was killed in the collision with the tree. Whether the officers involved in the collision were injured, is not clear.