A 28-year-old man from Lower Austria had a wild police chase in Carinthia on Wednesday evening. The man accelerated to speeds of up to 200 km/h, causing several accidents with property damage before being stopped. Four private cars and two police vehicles were damaged, according to a statement from the police.

Around 5:15 PM, the police received a report of a drunk driver allegedly driving in St. Veit an der Glan. When they tried to stop him, he accelerated and drove onto the curb, hitting a private vehicle and sending it onto the sidewalk, where it nearly hit a group of pedestrians. Police officers had to jump out of the way.

Fleeing at a speed of over 120 km/h, the driver entered the town of St. Veit, where a police car crew only narrowly avoided being hit by jumping aside. The 28-year-old still managed to brush against the police car, damaging it, before forcing another patrol car off the road. This also damaged a tire of his own vehicle.

Finally, the man fled on the S37 highway towards Klagenfurt, attempting to force a patrol car into a concrete barrier and accelerating to well over 200 km/h. Due to a tire blowout, he continued driving with a sparks-producing rim.

Arrested after another crash, the man lost control of his car while overtaking several vehicles in a zigzag pattern just before the Klagenfurt North highway interchange. After hitting two private cars, he got stuck in a guardrail. The driver, who refused an alcohol test, was arrested. The 28-year-old was supposed to begin a prison sentence in Wiener Neustadt on Friday. Due to the flight risk, the Klagenfurt prosecutor’s office ordered his detention at the Klagenfurt prison.

Further investigations revealed that the driver had not had a driver’s license for years. The numerous infractions—about 50, including seven accidents with hit-and-run—will be reported separately. A total of ten patrol cars with 20 officers were involved in the operation.