Drunk Guy Terrorizes Streets of Poland in Soviet Tank

 (TMU) — Last week, in the Polish town of Pajeczno, a drunk man drove a Soviet-era T-55 tank through town, terrorizing the local community.When police arrived on the scene, they found the tank parked in the middle of the road with the 49-year-old driver nearby.The tank belonged to Poland’s military and, while the driver was authorized to operate the vehicle, he obviously strayed from his directed route and task. The driver was reportedly ordered to move the tank between two transportation trailers so it could be shipped out. Instead, he took the tank out for a joy ride. 

 Now, the driver faces up to ten years in prison for driving under the influence and for “creating a dangerous situation.”Luckily, no one was hurt or injured in the incident and no property was reported damaged. 

 Online, the runaway tank was compared to a 5-star getaway in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto.
 

A Polish Redditor said, “Our army still has about 100 of them in reserve. They modernised them with 105mm guns, modern optics, electronic equipment and reactive armor and rebranded it as ‘m55’.”

Others commenting on the post pointed out that it was highly unlikely that the tank was armed with any kind of weapons or ammunition at the time.It is not clear if the joyride was intentional or if the driver was just so drunk that he didn’t realize where he was going or what he was doing.It took several hours for police to get the tank off the street, but they managed to clear the road before sunrise the next day. The tank was then impounded by the police department. 

 While no property was damaged during this joyride, the story does bring back memories of the infamous “killdozer,” involving Marvin John Heemeyer. Heemeyer, a business owner, lost his livelihood after a lengthy zoning battle with the city.

In response, Heemeyer constructed a giant tank-like bulldozer and went on a rampage through town, destroying properties belonging to all of his enemies—including his former business, the town hall, the office of the local newspaper, and the home of a former mayor.The rampage lasted for just over two hours and resulted in 13 buildings being destroyed, causing an estimated $7 million in damages. Heemeyer killed himself once the rampage was over—he was the only person hurt in the incident. Witnesses say he went out of his way to not harm anyone during the rampage.“I was always willing to be reasonable until I had to be unreasonable. Sometimes reasonable men must do unreasonable things,” Heemeyer said in a note he left behind.