Polish men face trial over self-service car wash raids in Lithuania

A court in Šiauliai opened a criminal case on Wednesday against two Polish citizens accused of robbing and damaging five self-service car washes in Lithuania, LRT reported. The defendants, who fully admit their guilt, allegedly caused nearly 28,000 euros in damage.

Piotr Wałczkowski, 21, and Patryk Żak, 35, are charged over attacks in Vilkaviškis, Jurbarkas, Ukmergė, Kuršėnai and Šiauliai. The men were detained this spring and have remained in custody.

During the pretrial investigation, the defendants admitted the crimes but disputed the amount taken in Vilkaviškis. They initially said the cash boxes contained considerably less than the 5,900 euros investigators had calculated. At the first hearing, however, both said they fully accepted the charges and did not dispute the circumstances.

This allows the case to be heard under an expedited procedure without examining all the evidence and provides for a one-third reduction in the defendants’ sentences.

Investigators found that the men had prepared for the thefts in advance. They located the car washes online and chose Lithuania as the nearest foreign country. They bought a crowbar and metal-cutting shears in Poland before carrying out their first raid on February 17.

Wałczkowski drove a borrowed Audi A3 while Żak broke into four payment terminals at a car wash in Vilkaviškis. The damage to the company’s property was estimated at more than 14,000 euros, while the men took 5,900 euros. They later divided the money and spent it on entertainment and gifts. Wałczkowski said he used some of it for a christening and a wedding.

Their second target was a car wash in Jurbarkas. Using another borrowed Audi, an A4, the men followed the same pattern, with Wałczkowski waiting in the car while Żak broke into the cash boxes. They took 2,156 euros, and the company estimated that repairing the damaged money containers would cost 578 euros.

In Ukmergė, the men broke into five terminals. The stolen money and damage to the equipment amounted to 4,480 euros. Their fourth target was in Kuršėnai, where they found only 33 euros in the damaged cash boxes.

The raid in Šiauliai was unsuccessful because cash collectors had already removed all the money from the boxes.

Judge Bronius Vinciūnas questioned one of the defendants, Wałczkowski, at the first hearing. The next hearing is scheduled for September 24.

The charges carry penalties ranging from a fine, restriction of liberty or arrest to imprisonment of up to six years.