Neighbor came to the rescue

Styrian (70) experienced wild scuffle with burglar

(Bild: Lucky Business, stock.adobe.com)

A 70-year-old man experienced a night of horror on Sunday in Weiz in eastern Styria: he caught a burglar in the act in his house and a wild scuffle ensued in which the victim was injured. Despite this, the man from eastern Styria managed to hold the 23-year-old burglar with the help of a neighbor until the police arrived.

On Monday night, a 70-year-old man from eastern Styria and his partner (58) were woken from their sleep by noises coming from the living room. When the man went to investigate, he came across a man wearing a balaclava and carrying a flashlight and crowbar. 

When he confronted the burglar, he grabbed a decorative weapon hanging on the wall and threatened the victim with it - which made little impression on the 70-year-old, as he knew that the weapon was inoperable. 

Burglar took the gun from the wall
The resident tried to overpower the intruder and a wild scuffle ensued, with the burglar hitting the man in the head several times with the decorative weapon and knocking him against a pane of glass. 

A neighbor became aware of the commotion and rushed to help. In the meantime, the 70-year-old's partner alerted the police. Although the 70-year-old was injured in the scuffle, he and his neighbor managed to hold the burglar until the police arrived. 

23-year-old told officers tall tales
But the burglar, a 23-year-old from the region, kept the police on their toes: he claimed that there were other offenders with firearms in the house. When this turned out to be false after a search, he claimed that the other perpetrators had fled in a car. 

After further false claims, the young man finally confessed to being the sole perpetrator. He cited money worries as his motive. The 23-year-old was taken to Graz-Jakomini prison.