Vatican priest, Father Cesare Burgazzi, led police on a high speed car chase leaving three officers injured after being caught in a red light zone, a court has heard. Officers pursued the 51-year-old after he was spotted driving slowly in the Valle Giulia, an area of Rome well known for prostitution and transsexuals.
He took officers on a 20-minute chase which was described in court as "something from a Hollywood movie" leaving two police cars crashed and three officers injured.
When he eventually stopped he told stunned officers: "You have no idea who I am. You don't know who you are messing with."
Father Burgazzi later claimed he "floored" his Ford Focus after mistaking plain clothes officers for robbers.
The court in Rome heard he worked at the Vatican's State Department and was also a master of ceremonies at St Peter's Basilica.
Father Burgazzi is accused of wounding, resisting arrest and failing to produce documents for the car or his identity when stopped.
His lawyer, Gianni Lostia, told the court in Rome: "My client is not a user of prostitutes or transsexuals – he did not have condoms in his car and he contests the police's claim that the front seats were reclined.
"He was simply on his way home after a night out at a restaurant with priest friends. He thought the officers who had tried to stop him were trying to rob him and he panicked and drove off."
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