RUSSIANS’ WILD JEEP DASH IN U.S. SECTOR

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22729, 30 August 1948, Page 5

RUSSIANS’ WILD JEEP DASH IN U.S. SECTOR

(N.Z.P. A.— Keutcr—Copyright. ) (11 a.m.) LONDON, Aug. 29. Four gun-brandishing Russian soldiers including a lieut.-colonel, staged a wild ride through the United States sector of Berlin on Friday night during which they ran down an American military policeman who tried to halt them, says the Associated Press correspondent in Berlin. American military police chased the Russians seven miles through busy streets and, although the American police shot two tyres off the Russians’ amphibious jeep they could not halt the vehicle. The Russians also crashed through road blocks the Americans had erected to check them

The Americans pursued the Russians 800 yards in the Soviet sector at the Potsdamerplatz where the Russians escaped.

The Russians formally protested to the United States authorities _ against the alleged violation of the jurisdiction and claimed that the Americans had assaulted Soviet personnel and wounded an officer. American liaison officers reported the incident of the jeep because it was travelling 60 miles an hour which is double the permitted speed in the United States sector. The Americans saw the jeep run dowm a military policeman on a motorcycle when he tried to stop the vehicle. The policeman received a fractured right elbow, lacerations to the arm and concussion.

The police formed roadblocks with motorcycles at crossroads, but the Russians broke through by threatening to shoot. The Americans fired at the escaping vehicle, wounding one occupant. The Americans stopped as soon as they realised they had crossed into the Soviet sector.