A luxury SUV that had been stolen while its owner rescued a drowning woman was retrieved just after midnight Thursday. Its driver was arrested.
A computer system that automatically scans license plates alerted patrolling officers, who stopped the vehicle and made the arrest, a police spokesperson told Interfax.
The suspect, identified only as a man in his late 30s, was taken to the Gagarinsky precinct in southwestern Moscow.
The vehicle, an Audi Q7 valued at 2.9 million rubles, was stolen on Monday shortly after its owner had rushed out to rescue a woman trapped inside a Volvo that had crashed through a roadside barrier and was sinking into eastern Moscow's Yauza River.
The man managed to pull the woman from the car's passenger side, but the driver was trapped under the collapsed steering wheel and could not be pried free.
In the rush to save those in peril, the hero left his car door open and the key in the ignition.
