Alex Trelinski
A 71-YEAR-OLD Mallorca taxi driver was hospitalised after a brutal beating from a group of German tourists who claimed to be police officers.
Three men were arrested and they flew back to Germany- hours after appearing before a Palma judge.
Authorities there are trying to confirm whether they are in fact policemen based in Essen.
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Last Tuesday, the victim named as Jose Maria P. was doing a night shift at a Playa de Palma taxi rank on Calle del Jamon.
Seven people approached him and two taxis were booked to take them to their hotel in Petra.
“Three people travelled with me- two of them were drunk and half asleep,” said Jose Maria in an interview with the Diario de Mallorca newspaper.
“When we arrived at the hotel everything was fine, they tipped well and I helped the two drunks out, but the third person noticed that his phone was missing.”
The group had risen to four and they ordered Jose Maria to call the police and accused him of stealing the phone.
The police did not arrive and the Germans decided to take matters into their own hands.
“They started punching and kicking me. I begged to stop but it was useless,” said Jose Maria.
When he asked about the police, the group- aged in their twenties- told him ‘they were the police’ and displayed identity cards stating they were officers from Essen.
The taxi driver suffered eye and arm injuries as well as two broken ribs.
“I can barely comprehend how my body managed to survive the onslaught,” he added.
He was shoved back into his cab and Jose Maria said they planned to let off the handbrake as the vehicle was on a slope, but the Guardia Civil arrived before that happened.
“They saved my life,” he exclaimed.
One of the group apparently offered a bribe to the Guardia and to Jose Maria over dropping the matter and he was arrested.
Two other Germans were later detained with the trio brought before a judge the same day.
Jose Maria’s son, Oscar, said: “They waived their right to give testify and were bailed without any conditions.”
“Our lawyer explained they were not a flight risk because they were policemen.”
They travelled back to Germany on Wednesday and as for the ‘missing’ phone, it was discovered in a bag belonging to another member of the group.
