Jönköping police catch fake 'pölice car'
On Good Friday police in Jönköping suddenly discovered that they had competition. A rumour was going around that someone had seen a blue and white Volvo 245 with a flashing blue light and the word 'Pölis' on the side.
Not, it will be noted, the correct Swedish word 'Polis' - but whether the addition of two dots above the O was a spelling mistake or a sly attempt to evade the law is unclear.
The real police began looking for the car early on Friday morning and by the evening their efforts had paid off.
"We took off his blue lights and confiscated them," said Jönköping police spokesman Lars Johansson to TT.
But the man was allowed to keep his 'pölice car'.
"Yeah, it was spelled wrong, so he got to keep it."
Perhaps the spelling was intentional after all - but the young man may nevertheless have committed a crime.
"There's something called impersonating a public official and we could get him on that. We're feeling mean today," said Lars Johansson, who may have been holding back a smile as he spoke.
"We want to show that you can't just do what you like. We want to show that we're the ones who decide," he said, with a chuckle.
The man was one of many visiting the motorshow in Jönköping over the weekend. And it seems that the prank may just be taken in the spirit of the occasion:
"It could have been perceived as a police car, and that's definitely not good. But on the other hand he hasn't done anything really stupid. He hasn't been out stopping any cars - that would have been a lot more serious."
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Not, it will be noted, the correct Swedish word 'Polis' - but whether the addition of two dots above the O was a spelling mistake or a sly attempt to evade the law is unclear.
The real police began looking for the car early on Friday morning and by the evening their efforts had paid off.
"We took off his blue lights and confiscated them," said Jönköping police spokesman Lars Johansson to TT.
But the man was allowed to keep his 'pölice car'.
"Yeah, it was spelled wrong, so he got to keep it."
Perhaps the spelling was intentional after all - but the young man may nevertheless have committed a crime.
"There's something called impersonating a public official and we could get him on that. We're feeling mean today," said Lars Johansson, who may have been holding back a smile as he spoke.
"We want to show that you can't just do what you like. We want to show that we're the ones who decide," he said, with a chuckle.
The man was one of many visiting the motorshow in Jönköping over the weekend. And it seems that the prank may just be taken in the spirit of the occasion:
"It could have been perceived as a police car, and that's definitely not good. But on the other hand he hasn't done anything really stupid. He hasn't been out stopping any cars - that would have been a lot more serious."
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