Door lock etched open

Another acid attack: resident was still on vacation

This house on Gumpendorfer Straße became a crime scene.

(Bild: Jöchl Martin)

There is excitement in an apartment building in Vienna's Gumpendorfer Straße. A recent burglary coup involving corrosive liquid only just failed. After several cases in Favoriten and Leopoldstadt, the notorious acid burglars are now also causing sleepless nights in Mariahilf.

In detail: A local resident raised the alarm with the affected apartment owner on Monday. His front door was badly damaged and he should have a look at it, she said. However, the Viennese was still on his well-deserved vacation and contacted the police directly: "The officers who arrived at the scene discovered that an unknown perpetrator was trying to break the lock cylinder by using suspected acid. There was considerable damage to property, but fortunately the criminals did not get into the apartment," said Julia Schick, spokesperson for the regional police department.

The criminals etched the door lock with acid, but they did not get into the apartment.

(Bild: Jöchl Martin)

Suspicious signs discovered in advance
During the local inspection by the "Krone" on Tuesday, another apartment owner reported that he had already discovered suspicious signs at the entrance beforehand - but it was only later that he realized that they could really be so-called crook tines.

Since 2022, burglars have etched their way into more than 95 apartments in the German capital. Although part of a Georgian gang was caught, the sinister series of burglaries has continued since the summer of 2024. The current investigations are being conducted by the State Office of Criminal Investigation, but concrete evidence is still scarce, it is said.