Moscow traffic police are investigating the complaint of a driver who said police used him and his car as a human shield in an unsuccessful attempt to catch a suspect last week.
City police have confirmed that they used the cars of several Moscow drivers to try to block the Moscow Ring Road to catch a suspected petty thief, Vedomosti reported Tuesday.
One driver, Sergei Sutyagin, said on Ekho Moskvy radio and in a YouTube video that a police officer pulled him over at about 5:30 a.m. March 5 and ordered him and several other drivers to block the road with their cars.
He said he was told to remain in his car.
Minutes later, a silver Audi slammed into his car and sped away, he said.
Sutyagin said the policeman told him that no compensation would be paid for the car, which he said was badly damaged, because the suspect had not been caught.
The traffic police are investigating the claim, spokeswomen Marina Vasilyeva told RIA-Novosti on Tuesday.
Moscow traffic police chief Sergei Kazantsev has taken the case under his personal control, Vedomosti reported.