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Scene of the accident in Berlin (archive): Speeded through the city in a stolen car at night
Photo: Paul Zinken / picture alliance / Paul Zinken / dpa
The BMW is stolen, the license plates are wrong, the traffic light is red and Okan K. does not even have a driver's license when he rushes to an intersection in Berlin-Wedding at around 3 a.m. on February 15, 2018.
According to the indictment, he overlooks a Volvo coming from the left.
Okan K. tries to evade with his BMW, he touches the Volvo, loses control of his vehicle and skids.
With the BMW he breaks through a pedestrian safety gate, finally comes to a stop at the entrance to the Reinickendorfer Strasse subway station - and escapes on foot.
The trial of the 35-year-old accused began on Tuesday in the 10th Large Criminal Chamber of the Berlin Regional Court.
According to the prosecution, Okan K. "just wanted to reach and maintain the highest possible speed, consciously accepting the danger to other road users resulting from this speed and the blatant rule violation".
This is what public prosecutor Bernhard Mix said in room 220.
According to Section 315d of the Criminal Code, such behavior is considered a prohibited race - even without an "opponent".
In addition, there are not only allegations of hit and miss and endangering road traffic, but also 31 other allegations from the past.
Between December 2017 and February 2018, Okan K. is said to have broken into numerous workshops, storage rooms and offices in Berlin and stole tools, money and cars.
Sometimes an Audi, sometimes a VW Golf, sometimes a Mercedes.
He exchanged the license plates for stolen license plates.
According to the indictment, he was sometimes on a thief tour for several nights in a row.
The public prosecutor puts the value of his booty at 20,074.81 euros.
The police are still looking for possible accomplices
In six cases, Okan K. is said to have not committed his crimes alone.
The police have not yet caught his possible accomplices.
Even the BMW, with which Okan K. raced through Berlin on February 15, 2018, is said not to have stolen it himself, but to have received it from a still unknown thief.
Okan K. was born in Berlin and is a Turkish citizen.
He never learned a trade.
He doesn't say much more on this first day of the trial.
He lets his defense attorney Oliver Freitag speak for himself, who essentially admits the charges.
The defense attorney portrays the acts as a kind of crime against acquisitions. Okan K. is seriously addicted to drugs.
The accused is not in pre-trial detention, but in a clinic for the penal system.
Okan K. has been known to the investigators for years, the 35-year-old has a multiple criminal record.
In 2015 he was sentenced to five years and two months, according to the prosecutor.
Because of his drug problems, he was not sent to prison, but to a rehab clinic.
In 2017 he did not return to the clinic after a day off.
In the same year the next fact series began.
"Debt, Food and Drugs"
Okan K. borrowed money in 2017 after his escape from the clinic to finance his drug use, said his defense attorney on behalf of his client in court.
He stole to pay "debts, food and drugs."
The drug is said to be GBL, a party drug also known as liquid ecstasy.
"I was driven by getting drugs," Okan K. tells his lawyer.
He vows to get better.
"Such a slipping shouldn't happen again," his defense attorney argues for him.
"I am now determined to continue and successfully end my therapy."
In the future he wants to lead "a life without drugs and stealing".
Even before the accident at the subway yard, the police almost caught him twice: On January 17, 2018, police officers Okan K. slept in a stolen Mercedes in Berlin-Tempelhof.
When the police woke him up and tried to check him, he drove away.
Twelve days later he slept in a stolen VW Golf, this time in Berlin-Schöneberg.
Again he was woken up by the police and again he managed to drive away.
About two weeks later, he drove a stolen Audi into the bus shelter at a bus stop in Berlin-Tegel.
He fled the scene of the accident on foot.
Three days later the life-threatening frenzy with the stolen BMW broke out.
According to the defense attorney, Okan K. was seriously injured in the eye in the accident.
But he fled again, on foot again.
Investigators found his DNA in the car and monitored his phone.
He was arrested a few weeks later.
On the next day of the trial, Okan K. wants to speak himself.
Then he wants to give information about himself and answer questions about his life.
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