A teen-ager speeding through a German town in a go-kart with seven squad cars in hot pursuit managed to give the frustrated officers the slip, police said on Friday.
After leading the convoy on a 5-km (3-mile) chase through the winding streets of Moenchengladbach, the 18-year-old driver spotted a private garage with an open door, where he decided to lie low, police said.
"We were chasing him across town, but the squad cars couldn't keep up because the go-cart was able to take the corners faster and he was able to get away," police spokesman Willy Thevissen said.
However, police later discovered his hiding place. He was questioned and charged with driving without a license and driving a go-kart on a public street, which is not permitted in Germany.
"He told us he knew driving a go-cart on the street is illegal," the spokesman said. "But he had purchased the vehicle from a friend and said he had no other way of getting it home."
Moenchengladbach has produced two Formula One racing drivers. Both Nick Heidfeld of the BMW Sauber ream and former racer Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who retired in 2003, were born there.
