Chase in Isny: Mentally damaged man leaves chaos behind!

Chase in Isny: Mentally damaged man leaves chaos behind!

On Thursday, September 25th, there was a dramatic incident in downtown Isny ​​that brought the police to the scene. A 37-year-old man, who was apparently in a psychological state of emergency, caused chaos and caused considerable damage to property. The police station was alerted at 10:30 a.m. after the man's condition worsened at his home address in the old town.

When he tried to contact the man, he reacted in panic and fled. In his desperate attempt to escape, he even slightly injured a police officer. Things got down to business quickly: with the door open, he sped towards Unterer Achstrasse and hit a patrol car, which initiated a pursuit by the police.

Lever of Chaos

During the escape, the 37-year-old crashed into several vehicles and drove recklessly across the closed route. He not only endangered himself, but also other drivers. His path took him to the premises of a mobile home manufacturer, where he broke through several fences until an alert worker with a shovel loader was able to block the exit. A collision with a building wall finally marked the end of his escapade as he was surrounded by several police cruisers.

The investigation was taken over by the Kißlegg traffic service. It turned out that the man was under the influence of alcohol and drugs. A blood sample was taken at a clinic and several grams of synthetic drugs were also found in his bag. Ultimately, he was transferred to a specialist clinic due to his mental condition. The property damage is estimated at a six-figure amount, but fortunately the man was largely uninjured.

Mental health crises and policing

This incident sheds light on the challenges police in Germany face when it comes to dealing with mental health crises. Since 2019, police officers in Germany have shot 37 people in similar situations tagesschau.de reported. Experts are therefore urgently calling for officials to be better prepared for such exceptional situations.

There has already been a response to this problem in North Rhine-Westphalia. After a fatal operation in August 2022 in which a 16-year-old was shot, the State Office for Police Training has developed new operational training. This involves police officers communicating more and trying to calm the situation before resorting to violence - an approach that is particularly important when there are threats of self-harm or suicide, according to a report by WDR shows.

The discussion about how to deal with mentally ill people within the police is not new, and it seems that extensive training will also be necessary in the future in order to better prepare officers for dealing with mentally ill people. Such training could not only save the lives of those affected, but also those of police officers themselves.