24 previous convictions

No hacks, but on a burglary spree with an axe

The two professional burglars, who have already made 26 amateurish attempts in their ill-conceived robberies, were sentenced to prison in Eisenstadt.

(Bild: HS, Krone KREATIV)

Two unemployed people with a total of 24 previous convictions fell into the clutches of a loan shark. They had a not very sophisticated plan to pay off their debts. The thieving duo were put on trial at Eisenstadt Regional Court.

The mastermind is Serbian, 49, and has 9 relevant convictions to his name. The fact that he changed his surname four times did not save him from several years in prison. The accomplice from Montenegro, 32, only wanted to change his name three times. His list of previous convictions is a remarkable 15 lines long.

Fixed interest rate: 1000 euros
In September, the notorious thieves had a seemingly brilliant idea: we buy two super cars from an Arab in Hungary for 8,000 euros and sell them in Serbia for twice that amount. Where to get the capital and not steal it? The duo consults a private financier and accepts the fixed interest rate of 1000 euros. It's quick money we're making ...

However, the vehicles turn out to be piles of scrap metal. We refrain from buying them. The problem: 2000 of the 8000 plus 1000 euros borrowed have already been used for rent, cocaine and food. And so another plan is forged: We'll just do what we do best.

120 euros and 50 packs of cigarettes
The men use an axe to smash the double security glass of a petrol station in Vienna and take 50 packs of cigarettes and cash. When they count them, they realize that 120 euros is not really that much.

So here we go again. There's a great cell phone store in Mattersburg, which has already been broken into twice. We can do that too! Once again, the two of them take their axe and smash their way inside, tearing the cash drawer from its moorings. There are 200 euros inside, not the world, but we can turn the nine cell phones into money.

His debts, our debts
There is no further coup. The Burgenland criminals were able to get the license plate number of the perpetrators from a surveillance camera. They are arrested at a border crossing. "We passed the stores by chance," says the Serb. "My friend borrowed the money for our business idea. So it was our debt. So I couldn't leave him alone during the burglaries," the Montenegrin says in court.

In any case, the loan shark will have to be patient a little longer. The main defendant received 24 months in prison, his accomplice 15, but the sentence is okay for both of them.