4th accomplice on the run

Woman beaten and gagged: three arrests

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The owner of a jewelry store was beaten, gagged and bound during a brutal robbery in Seitenstetten in the district of Amstetten (Lower Austria) last year. Three suspects have already been arrested, another suspect is still on the run. 

Almost exactly one year ago, four masked perpetrators robbed a jewelry store in Seitenstetten in the district of Amstetten. The 46-year-old owner was brutally beaten and then dragged into an adjoining workshop. The quartet handcuffed the defenceless victim and gagged her with construction tape. The perpetrators wrapped the tape around the woman's entire head and face several times, so that she could no longer see and could barely breathe. In addition, the perpetrators tore a fabric curtain of the store from an anchorage in order to tie up the 46-year-old woman again. 

Threatened with being killed
The strangers demanded in English that she hand over valuables and threatened to kill the frightened woman several times. According to the police, the victim, who was lying on the floor, gagged and tied up, was continuously kicked and punched. 

Bruises, hematomas, scratches and abrasions
The perpetrators stole jewelry and numerous watches from the store and fled. They left the 46-year-old woman injured. Later, a customer who happened to be passing by discovered the shopkeeper, who had bruises, hematomas, scratches and abrasions. The shocked woman was treated at Steyr Regional Hospital. The victim is still suffering from the consequences of the brutal attack. The woman is receiving appropriate psychotherapeutic treatment.

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Four suspects identified
In the course of meticulous investigations, four Romanian nationals aged 26, 27, 31 and 35 years were identified as urgent suspects and national arrest warrants or European arrest warrants were obtained against them from the St. Pölten public prosecutor's office. According to the police, the accused quartet belong to an internationally active group of offenders from Turda (Romania) and have previous convictions in Austria and abroad for crimes involving violence, property, fraud and narcotics.

Two suspects (27, 31) had already been detained in St. Pölten prison for other criminal offenses. They confessed to the suspected aggravated robbery of the jeweler in Seitenstetten. The third suspect (35) was arrested in Italy in February. He was extradited to Austria on March 27 and refused to provide any information when questioned by the robbery team of the Provincial Criminal Police Office. The Romanian was taken to St. Pölten prison.

Another suspect on the run
To date, another suspect, a 26-year-old Romanian citizen, is on the run. He is still being sought.

The clothing worn by the perpetrators during the jewelry store robbery as well as other items used in the crime, such as binding and gagging material and a travel bag for transporting the loot, were found and recovered in a wooded area in the Czech Republic.