Fabian Hambüchen disposes of rubbish at his neighbor’s house – he calls the police

Anyone who has ever moved knows the problem: what to do with old electronic waste, dried paint residues and bulky packaging? Former athlete Fabian Hambüchen has now decided on the illegal and expensive option – he simply disposed of his rubbish in the neighbor’s bin.

What Hambüchen didn’t know was that the neighbor had installed cameras on his property, which is why the action didn’t go unnoticed. The footage shows Hambüchen parking his car on his neighbor’s property and stuffing huge boxes into a black container. The neighbor then informed the police and filed a report. The officers were able to determine Hambüchen’s address using his license plate and drove to his house in Wetzlar, Hesse. But they didn’t find him there because the 37-year-old apparently hadn’t registered yet. When Hambüchen found out that he was wanted by the police, he anticipated the officers and showed up at the station to investigate the incident.

“My wife Viktoria and I are currently moving. The clearing out of the old house was finished. We still had the last things to dispose of,” Hambüchen told the “Bild” newspaper. He admitted his wrongdoing: “I just threw the things into the next container without thinking. That wasn’t a good idea and I’m sorry. I apologized and went to the police in person. Of course I will pay the fine immediately! Penalty must be. This will definitely be a lesson for me.” According to the Hessian catalog of fines, he could be fined between 150 and 2,500 euros.

Hambüchen won the gold medal on the horizontal bar at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. He had previously won silver and bronze at the Olympics and became world gymnastics champion in 2007. After his active career ended, he worked as a TV expert, most recently at the Olympic Games in Paris for the Eurosport channel. He has been married to the fitness trainer Viktoria Diesterbeck since 2022.