BERLIN (AP) — Berlin police said on Friday that they are investigating whether Polish man a detained in connection with more than a dozen traffic accidents in the German capital had extremist motives in causing the crashes.
Police said witnesses reported seeing the driver of a Peugeot van crash into least 13 vehicles in the German capital Thursday and run several red lights. One woman suffered minor injuries in a crash.
Officers were able to stop the 32-year-old driver in neighboring Brandenburg state.
Police said the man, who wasn’t named for privacy reasons, made references to Norwegian right-wing extremist Anders Breivik after he was detained.
Breivik killed 77 people on the island of Utoya on July 22, 2011.
German tabloid B.Z. reported that the driver of the van claimed to have taken drugs and referred to himself as a “Knight Templar.”
Berlin police said the case has been referred to a unit that investigates extremism crimes.
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