The driver disabled the speed limiter through a modified tachograph and attempted to escape the Guardia Civil on the A-5 motorway
A court in Spain’s Cáceres province has sentenced a man to six months in prison following a dangerous chase involving a stolen articulated truck on the A-5 motorway. The heavy vehicle reached speeds of up to 150 km/h despite being limited to 90 km/h.
The incident occurred on August 22, 2026. The Guardia Civil Traffic Operational Centre in Cáceres received a report that an articulated truck had been stolen in the municipality of Miajadas.
Patrols launched a search and located the vehicle near kilometre 240 of the A-5. The truck was travelling towards Madrid. Officers used the prescribed signals to order the driver to stop, but he ignored them and continued along the motorway.
A pursuit followed for approximately 33 km and ended in the municipality of Navalmoral de la Mata. Details of the operation were confirmed by Spanish public broadcaster Canal Extremadura and specialist publication Transport Online.
During the chase, the driver reportedly made abrupt lane changes and carried out evasive manoeuvres intended to prevent patrols from stopping the truck. The Guardia Civil said his actions created a serious danger for other road users.
“The driver ignored the officers’ instructions and fled along the A-5, reaching 150 km/h and carrying out extremely dangerous manoeuvres,” the Guardia Civil’s Cáceres unit said
Additional patrols were deployed to assist with the interception. Officers eventually stopped the truck near exit 186 of the A-5 in Navalmoral de la Mata.
The driver was arrested and the investigation file was submitted to the court. Spanish authorities did not report any collisions, injuries to other road users or damage to cargo during the chase.
An inspection conducted after the truck was stopped identified illegal modifications to its tachograph. According to the Guardia Civil, the intervention also disabled the vehicle’s speed-limiting system, allowing it to travel significantly faster than its permitted maximum speed.
The truck was limited to 90 km/h. Its reported speed of 150 km/h therefore exceeded the limit by 60 km/h.
A tachograph records speed, distance, driving periods and driver rest times. Manipulating the device can obstruct enforcement of working-time rules and prevent authorities from obtaining reliable information about a vehicle’s operation. In this case, the intervention was also found to have affected the truck’s speed limiter.
The published information does not establish when the system was modified or who carried out the work. Those details were not disclosed in the Guardia Civil’s public statement.
The suspect was brought before the Court of First Instance, Civil and Investigative Section No. 3 in Navalmoral de la Mata. The court issued a final judgment sentencing him to six months in prison and withdrawing his right to drive motor vehicles and mopeds for two years and one day.
Spanish reports link the sentence to the dangerous driving committed during the pursuit. They do not clarify whether the alleged theft of the truck was handled in the same proceedings or as a separate case. The six-month sentence should therefore not automatically be interpreted as covering every potential offence connected to the incident.
The ruling has been described as final. However, the actual enforcement of a short prison sentence in Spain may depend on the defendant’s previous convictions and a separate decision concerning suspension of the custodial term.
For road freight operators, the case demonstrates why speed limiters and tachographs should be inspected not only during scheduled maintenance but also after any unauthorised access to a truck. Interference with these systems can create accident risks, regulatory exposure and difficulties during insurance investigations.
Carriers also need procedures for rapidly providing police with the location of stolen equipment. GPS monitoring, telematics and automatic alerts can reduce the time required to locate a vehicle and help officers select a safer place for interception.
As K2Cargo.News previously reported, the Guardia Civil recently dismantled a criminal group accused of stealing cargo from trucks while they were still moving. Ten suspects were arrested in connection with 11 thefts involving estimated losses of €481,000.
The A-5 incident involved different circumstances, but it similarly demonstrates the link between truck security, road crime and risks to other motorway users.
Read also: Spain dismantles gang robbing moving trucks
