Even meticulous planning does not protect against the long arm of the law: this was felt by three men who have to answer before the regional court on Thursday. They are accused of stealing seven high-priced cars from the premises of a vehicle logistics company in the Perg district within a few weeks in autumn 2023. According to the indictment, the total damage is 1.76 million euros. According to the police, most of the three defendants have confessed. “This procedure, in which very expensive vehicles are stolen, is unusual for Austria,” says Christian Schmidseder, head of the theft department at the Upper Austrian State Criminal Police Office.
The police became aware of the gang when two high-priced new Mercedes-Benz and Land Rover vehicles were stolen from the company premises at the end of October. Further investigations revealed that three other cars had already been stolen unnoticed a few weeks earlier.
Attempted escape to Turkey
It quickly became clear to the investigators that the thieves had received help from someone who knew the stolen company well. Suspicion fell on a 40-year-old Turkish employee. According to the police, he is said to have opened the access gates to the well-secured area for his accomplices, two 27-year-old Poles. He is also said to have informed them about the parking spaces where high-priced cars were parked.
The 40-year-old was questioned by the police at the beginning of the investigation. “It was probably clear to him that suspicion would fall on him at some point,” says Schmidseder. At the end of November 2023, the man wanted to go to Turkey with his wife. The LKA investigators prevented this just in time and the man was arrested.
Chase in the forest
“Inspector Chance” ultimately led to the capture of the two accomplices, says Schmidseder. Just a week after their accomplice was arrested, the 27-year-olds broke into the company premises again and stole two more luxury vehicles. “They obviously knew the area so well at that point that they managed it without any help,” says the chief inspector.
The two men drove the stolen cars out of the company premises and parked them in a nearby parking lot to install fake license plates. A police patrol that happened to be driving by noticed them and wanted to catch the thieves. They fled into an adjacent forest. However, during a large-scale search, in which a police helicopter was deployed, the fugitives were quickly caught and arrested.
Organized crime in the background
The police returned the two most recently stolen vehicles to the company. There is currently no trace of the remaining five. “There is likely to be a criminal organization in the background,” explains Schmidauer. In Austria it would be very difficult to sell the vehicles because they would be noticed when registering. “They were probably taken abroad and sold there, in parts or in whole,” explains the criminalist. Due to the origins of the two Polish perpetrators, the mediators suspect that the trail could lead to Eastern Europe. “The investigation into the other perpetrators is still ongoing,” explains Schmidauer.
My themes
For your saved topics were
new articles found.
info By clicking on the icon you can add the keyword to your topics.
info
By clicking on the icon you open your “my topics” page. They have of 15 keywords saved and would have to remove keywords.
info By clicking on the icon you can remove the keyword from your topics.
Add the topic to your topics.
Source: Nachrichten
