Irish woman (20) arrested as baby found in back seat of car following high-speed chase

The astonishing drama unfolded on Saturday evening when police arrested a man and the 20-year-old woman who had fled along the A2 motorway on Saturday evening with the child who had no seat belt on in the back seat.

Police had earlier responded to a report that two people were trying to extort money from passers-by in the town of Echt.

“When a patrol arrived, the car with the suspects took off,” local media reported.

“On his crazy ride through the village, the driver drove straight through a roadblock and over a roundabout and overtook on the right, before going (along) the A2,” 1limburg.nl reported.

“Police then stopped the pursuit, but another patrol saw the car driving on the A2. The driver turned around and again drove (the) wrong (way) on the A2 near Roosteren on the other half of the road.

“There the driver stopped and started to run, but he was quickly apprehended.”

The passenger, the 20-year-old Irish woman, was also arrested as she could not provide ID.

"To our horror, there was also a 1-year-old toddler in the back seat without a seat belt," police were quoted as saying.

“At the office we contacted the Youth crisis service, because being in a cell with mom or dad was obviously not an option."

The “aliens police” was continuing to investigate the identity of the suspects on Sunday.

In a Facebook post, police described how a “fierce pursuit” took place in Echt and along the motorway.

“The English man stated that he drove away because he was afraid of the Dutch police. His car was seized for investigation,” police wrote.

“In addition, several people also complained about the fact that a man, woman and a baby were in a gray Volkswagen Tiguan with English license plates.

“Yesterday it was already decided that the man would be detained longer for investigation. We had too little evidence against the woman until this morning.

"Thanks to multiple reports of fraud, presumably, (we) can also hold the woman for a longer period of time. Luckily everything is going well with the (child).

“For the time being, he is still in a safe place until the Child Protection Council makes a decision.

"We are looking for several victims of scam, suspected, committed by these two persons.”

In an earlier post the police revealed that they had received reports of two people in the Nieuwe Market in Echt allegedly asking several people for money as “their belongings had been stolen”.

“The persons are believed to be in a vehicle with an English license plate,” police posted. “At the scene we saw the vehicle in the parking lot but before we could get out, the driver decided to leave.

“Together with the other patrols, a life-threatening pursuit occurred by Echt. During the pursuit, the driver drove right (along) the roadway and drove across a roundabout and also overtook other road users on the right..

“We are very happy that no one was injured because we don't have to explain to you that this chase could have ended very differently,” they added. “Thanks to all the colleagues from other areas who supported us but of course also the road users on the motorway who together made sure that there were no accidents.”