Pirkanmaa District Court has remanded a 20-year-old man in custody on suspicion of manslaughter for his alleged involvement in a two-vehicle crash that led to the death of a taxi driver in Tampere last weekend.
Tuesday's hearing was held behind closed doors, with the court also forbidding photography ahead of the session as the suspect was escorted into the courtroom by police officers.
More details also began to emerge on Tuesday about the chain of events that led to the crash.
Police said the suspect took a Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) Toyota Hilux from the Armoured Brigade in Parolannummi without permission and headed towards Tampere on highway 3 at around 5:23am on Saturday.
About ten minutes later, at 5:33am, the suspect himself called emergency services to report the situation. Emergency services then informed police that an individual was driving an FDF vehicle without permission.
A police unit reported seeing the FDF van heading towards Lempäälä on highway 3 at considerable speed. However, police said officers were unable to catch up to the vehicle due to its excessive speed.
At 5:53am, the van collided with the taxi, which was stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of Kuokkamaantie. The 54-year-old taxi driver died instantly in the collision, according to police.
Police previously said that the FDF vehicle was not being driven in an official capacity at the time of the crash, and that it collided with the taxi at a considerable speed.
As of Tuesday, it remained unclear why the 20-year-old took the vehicle without permission from the Armoured Brigade in Parolannummi.
Tabloid newspaper Ilta-Sanomat reported on Monday that the suspect is from Hämeenlinna, and according to Yle's information, the suspect has no prior criminal record.
Yle reported on Monday that a police vehicle was also involved in the crash, after eyewitnesses said a civilian Volkswagen Transporter used by the police had been towed away from the crash site. However, even though the vehicle was damaged in the incident, it was not directly involved in the collision.