Farmer ploughs newly asphalted road in Gliwice with tractor
A 60-year-old was arrested and placed in three months’ detention after using an Ursus tractor to rip up a newly paved street in Gliwice.
A farmer in southern Poland drove an Ursus tractor over about 200 metres of a newly asphalted road in Gliwice on Friday, leaving a deep furrow and causing major damage for which he faces up to 10 years in prison.
The 60-year-old was detained by police after the incident. Video published online by Gliwice mayor Katarzyna Kucinska-Budka shows a red tractor lowering a plough onto the surface and dragging it along the roadway, ripping up the fresh asphalt.
Charges and detention
On Sunday the man was charged with causing significant material damage and the District Court in Gliwice ordered three months of pre-trial detention. Investigators say the documents show the road is owned by the local authorities.
The farmer told officers he believed the road crossed his property and that the construction work had been carried out illegally. Police said he threatened them and warned he would return to damage the road again after they left. Mayor Kucinska-Budka told reporters this was not the first time the man had damaged the stretch that runs alongside farmland.
The Municipal Roads Administration of Gliwice issued a statement saying, "The road in its entirety is the property of the city of Gliwice. It is not a private road and no part of it is owned by a private individual." Prosecutors added that the farmer acted "planned and deliberate" and used agricultural machinery that enabled him to carry out his intention.
Residents had waited for years for the road to be reconstructed, authorities said, and the cost of repairing the damage will ultimately fall to the city. The court put the damage at about €69,000, while Kucinska-Budka said the Municipal Roads Administration estimated the damage at about 400.000 93.000 euros.
Photo: Policja Gliwice
