A high-ranking Swiss diplomat was the subject of a high-speed police chase through Paris on Sunday night, tearing through the streets of the French capital under the influence of alcohol, the Swiss Foreign Ministry has confirmed.
When police tried to stop the Swiss representative at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from driving the wrong way through the streets of Paris’s 5th arrondissement, the diplomat continued to speed toward them in a Mercedes until officers shot out one of the car’s tyres.
The 54-year-old driver was taken to the police station, where tests showed a blood alcohol level above the French legal limit of 0.05 milligrams per milliliter of blood.
The diplomat was released from custody once diplomatic immunity was confirmed. However, the foreign ministry is conducting an investigation and has said it would be willing to lift the immunity if France requested it.