/ 13 August 2004

Bridge work for Polish police

Polish police said on Friday they have arrested a man on suspicion of stealing a 200m-long, 360-ton bridge, which had then been sold to a scrap-metal yard.

Danuta Wolk-Karaczewska, a police spokesperson in the coastal city of Gdansk, said the 41-year-old suspect owned the warehouse where the 1,8-million zloty ($500 000) metal bridge had been packed up in pieces waiting to be taken away and placed.

The PAP news agency quoted her as saying the unidentified man had confessed to selling the bridge for 80 000 zlotys because he was in debt and faced a 10-year prison sentence.

The bridge disappeared earlier this month and was found by police at a scrap-metal yard, cut into metre-long pieces.

In order to transport all the bridge sections the robber would have had to use 15 lorries, or make 15 separate trips, PAP said. — Sapa-AFP