Crime, Estonia, Legislation, Lithuania

Aro Siinmaa, district prosecutor at the South District Prosecutor's Office, said that the district prosecutor's office on Thursday sought custody for the Lithuanian national as suspect in the theft of five cars and one attempted theft. 

The court decided to satisfy the request, spokespeople for the district prosecutor's office said. 

The spokespeople added that the second person sought in connection with the thefts apparently managed to return to Lithuania. The identity of that person is known to the police and work continues to achieve his arrest. 

The man who appeared in court on Thursday was arrested during a large-scale operation launched in South Estonia early on Wednesday. The police had to fire warning shots in the air to make the arrest.

The events got their start at around 2:30 a.m., when the alarm center received a call from a resident informing about suspicious activity by two men in the courtyard of a house on Paasukese street, Tartu.  

Noticing the approaching police patrol, two male suspects fled the scene. It was established that the men had been attempting to start a BMW car parked in the area, but without success. A Honda found by the police parked with a working engine at a distance of about one hundred meters had been stolen from a Kungla street address, also in Tartu, shortly before by keyless theft.

As a result of interference by the police, neither of the cars was stolen. 

Rain Vosman, head of the service for the investigation of organized and serious crimes at the South Prefecture of the Police and border Guard Board, said on Wednesday that a police operation was started immediately to catch the two men in dark clothing who had fled the scene hiding their face.   

At 5:30 a.m., a police patrol noticed two men moving on foot on Rebase street not far from Emajogi river whom they had grounds to link to the attempted car theft. 

"Noticing the police, they attempted to flee and did not react to repeated orders to stop. To stop the men, an officer of the patrol fired three warning shots into the air from their service weapon. They managed to detain one of the men immediately after that. The police established that the man is a 22-year-old citizen of Lithuania. The search for the second young man and potential other persons linked to the criminal offense continues," Vosman said. 

Based on the evidence gathered so far, police have reasons to believe that the same individuals are linked also to the car thefts committed in the southwestern Estonian city Parnu recently.