Bus driver injured

Stabbed after dispute with e-scooter driver

An e-scooter driver angered a 37-year-old man. An uninvolved mediator took the brunt of this anger.

(Bild: APA/ROLAND SCHLAGER)

A 57-year-old man ended up in hospital because he tried to settle a dispute between an e-scooter driver and an angry pedestrian in Vienna-Favoriten in May. The pedestrian stabbed him in the thigh with a metal pin out of anger because he obviously blamed him for the scooter driver getting away. The 37-year-old, who had several previous convictions, received a three-year prison sentence.

"The wound was only one centimeter in size. But if the stab had only missed by two centimetres, it would have been life-threatening," said the public prosecutor at the start of the trial, referring to a forensic medical report she had obtained in advance. It was "pure coincidence that the incident ended so lightly". "It was very close to the main artery. If he hits it, I'll never be there again," confirmed the victim, a bus driver employed by Wiener Linien.

E-scooter on the sidewalk annoyed the accused
The man had witnessed a physical altercation on Inzersdorfer Straße on the evening of May 13. The defendant was walking home with his girlfriend when an e-scooter rider approached him on the sidewalk. He immediately became aggressive, swore and pushed the driver to the ground. After the driver got up, fists started flying. The accused stabbed the scooter driver in the stomach with a metal pin and then punched him in the face.

Finally, the bus driver and a second witness separated the fighting men, which the scooter driver used to get on his vehicle and flee unrecognized. He could not be traced later on either.

Unfortunately, I stabbed my helper.

Angeklagter im Wiener Landesgericht

The defendant was obviously still boiling with rage and blamed one of the two witnesses for the fact that he could not continue to vent his anger at his adversary. "Unfortunately, I stabbed my helper", he said in the Vienna Regional Court, "I was disoriented from the beating." He was also drunk and had psychological problems: "I don't like large gatherings of people."

Not the first incident involving an e-scooter driver
The 37-year-old is also likely to have a fundamental problem with e-scooter and e-scooter riders. He spent several months in prison last year after knocking an oncoming e-scooter to the ground and threatening it with a Stanley knife ("I'll stab you!"). When asked about this, he remarked that alcohol, cannabis and psychotropic drugs, which he takes for his anxiety and panic attacks, make him aggressive.

"I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt him," the accused finally apologized to the bus driver, who had spent two days in hospital and then two weeks on sick leave. "I just want him to leave me alone and get his punishment. That's no way to treat people who want to help," he replied. The 57-year-old was awarded 1,500 euros by the court for the pain he suffered. The defendant accepted the sentence imposed on him. The public prosecutor did not make a statement for the time being. The verdict is therefore not legally binding.