Between one and two hundred Russians had gathered at the Grenlandporten on the E18 just outside Porsgrunn on the night of Thursday.
Among them were the girls on “Racerbuss”.
The atmosphere was at its peak for a long time – but was to receive a solid blow to the bow when they had to leave the place sometime between three and four in the morning.
– Then we discovered that someone has been so rude that they have torn off one of the signs on the buses. So, the screws are still in – so they’ve just yanked it out, a frustrated Signe Louise Løvli Hole tells VG.
– Thought it was a joke
She is vice-president at Horten high school, and one of the girls on “Racerbuss” – a bus project they have been planning since they were first-graders, and which has cost them several hundred thousand kroner.
She says the license plate theft must have happened sometime between one o’clock and three or four in the morning.
She herself had a “break day” that night, and only found out about it when the other girls started posting “stories” on Snapchat.
– Of course, I think “fuck”, in a way. At first I thought it was a joke – but then you realize it’s not a joke. And then you hear that it has happened to others too.
The girl gang were not the only ones who experienced having their signs stolen this Wednesday night.
The boys at “Nascar” were also at the bus meeting at Grenlandsporten. In their case was both the signs stolen.
– It is very strange. Suddenly the signs were just gone. I don’t understand how someone has managed to steal the signs without anyone noticing. We were standing next to the bus the whole time, says Semb.
Have reported
They have reported the matter to the police – something they were told they had to do to get new signs.
– If we are to calculate what we lose if we cannot roll to the weekend, we are talking about hundreds of thousands in lost money. We have spent around two million on the bus in total.
Now both buses must be parked while the two bus gangs wait to get new signs.
– We are missing the best time in the Russian era. It’s damn crazy, and damn unfair, if I can put it that way, says Hole on “Racerbuss”.
Have tried to push
Getting new signs has proven to be easier said than done.
– We have tried to put pressure on the Swedish Road Administration and the police and everything possible – but I think the Swedish Road Administration is extremely difficult to deal with, says Hole.
She explains that they either have to order new signs from the National Roads Administration – and wait between two and five days – or they have to go back and forth between the aforementioned agency and the police with confirmation that the signs have been stolen.
In the worst case, it means they have to wait well into next week before they can roll again.
Several hundred thousand
For a Russian gang who have spent almost three years planning the bus times, and who have spent hundreds of thousands on it, it is a nightmare.
She is convinced that it must be a Russian from one of the other buses who is behind the crime.
– It’s crazy that someone should destroy others in this way. That a bus driver should destroy another bus driver.
– Couldn’t there have been some angry neighbors who have been on a revenge spree because of what they perceive as noisy drunkenness?
– Yes, it’s entirely possible – but as I understand it, there aren’t that many “civilians” living around that area, says Hole.
– An ocean of time
Press officer Bjørn Lillevolden at the National Road Administration explains that you can order new signs at vegvesen.no, or go to the traffic station.
– If they are the owners, they must order. It only costs NOK 100, so it’s not expensive.
He states that it takes a week to get new signs – which is partly due to the physical production of the signs having to take place.
– It goes quickly, but there is an ocean of time for the Russian, points out Lillevolden.
– Can they get test plates?
– It may happen, but then you must at least submit an application for it, replies Lillevolden.
Task leader Jørn Vegard Kaasa in the South-East police district informs VG that he cannot find information in the log that the police have received a report about the stolen plates.
He can’t remember for a fact that he heard about similar license plate thefts in connection with the Russians.
– I cannot personally remember that there has been a problem. But that it may have happened, it may well happen. After all, it is easy to remove the plates from a vehicle if someone wants to be tricky first.
