Car Theft Spree in Ruma: Five Cars Stolen in Two Days
Five cars vanished in two days after their owners left the keys in the ignition. Police arrested M. U. (30) over the thefts in Ruma and Stara Pazova and ordered his 48 hour detention.
The wave of car thefts in Ruma and Stara Pazova now has a name attached to it. Police arrested M. U. (30), suspected of driving off with five vehicles belonging to other people over the course of two days. In every case, the key was sitting in the ignition.
The Sremska Mitrovica Police Department issued a statement on August 7. The suspect is charged with aggravated theft in continuation and with obstructing an official person in the performance of official duties.
The ministry’s statement laid out the grounds for the arrest in blunt terms:
“Officers of the Ministry of Interior in Ruma arrested M. U. (30), on grounds of suspicion that he committed the criminal offense of aggravated theft in continuation and the criminal offense of obstructing an official person,” the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia said in the statement.
The continuation qualification means several individual thefts are treated in law as a single offense, since they were carried out under the same pattern and within a short span of time.
Twice From the Same Company Compound
Investigators suspect the man entered the grounds of a company in Ruma on two separate occasions and each time drove off with a vehicle belonging to one of its employees. Starting the cars took no effort at all, since the owners had left their keys in the ignition.
Both incidents ended the same way. According to police, he caused a traffic accident, abandoned the car in the street and fled the scene. The two crashes happened on the same day.
He is also suspected of taking a mobile phone from the car of a third employee at the same company.
A Day Earlier, Three Cars in Stara Pazova
The Ruma chapter was not where the story started. Police believe the same man stole three more vehicles the day before, in the area of Stara Pazova. Those cars, too, had been left with the keys inside.
That brings the total to five vehicles taken over two days. A separate criminal complaint covering that part of the case will be filed with the competent prosecutor’s office.
What Do All Five Cars Have in Common?
None of them were broken into. No lock was forced, no window smashed, no tool used. In all five cases the car was unlocked with the key already in the ignition, so starting the engine took nothing more than a single motion of the hand.
That is why the Sremska Mitrovica Police Department paired its statement with an appeal to drivers: lock your car, and never leave the keys in the ignition, not even for a moment, not even inside a company yard.
Resistance During the Arrest
When police moved to arrest him, the suspect resisted and tried to run, but officers caught up with him and subdued him. That part of the encounter produced the second charge, obstructing an official person in the performance of official duties.
At the request of the Ruma Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office, he was ordered held for up to 48 hours. Within that window he is to be brought before the prosecutor’s office along with the criminal complaint. Until a final verdict, M. U. is presumed innocent.
The same legal framework, aggravated theft in continuation, appeared in the Novi Sad case we reported on earlier, where one suspect was linked to nine thefts of gold necklaces and an officer was injured during the arrest. The pattern is identical: a series of smaller offenses committed in a short period, merged by prosecutors into a single charge, with resistance to police tacked on at the end.
The difference is in the method. Nine necklaces required proximity and a quick grab; five cars in Srem required nothing more than someone else leaving a key in the ignition. Five vehicles, two traffic accidents and one stolen phone, all within two days.
