65 cases solved

Burglaries in schools: gang of perpetrators caught

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

Starting at the end of November 2024, there was an increase in kindergarten and school burglaries in Upper Austria. This week, the "Krone" reported on a case at the Riedau secondary school. After initial arrests, accomplices continued to go on the rampage, and now the handcuffs have clicked for the gang.

On December 27, 2024, a 32-year-old Czech national was tracked down and caught red-handed by the Upper Austrian criminal investigation department's theft squad after breaking into an elementary school and a company in the Urfahr-Umgebung district. The accused confessed to having committed a total of ten burglaries in schools and companies, partly together with his partner, a 39-year-old Czech citizen. The 32-year-old is currently in custody in Garsten prison.

Crime vehicle seen outside school
Despite the aforementioned arrest, a high number of unsolved crimes remained in the Upper Austria region and investigators were able to identify further burglaries in educational establishments from the end of December 2024. After indications of a possible crime vehicle had increased, a field patrol of the Perg police was able to identify a corresponding vehicle in front of the elementary school in Naarn at 00:25 on January 8.

Burglary tools in the car
The officers also noticed that a light was on in the elementary school, which is why a check was carried out on the vehicle.
A 19-year-old Bulgarian citizen was found next to the vehicle. During an inspection of the vehicle, the officers found obvious burglary tools and objects belonging to other people, which is why the 19-year-old was arrested.

I would like to congratulate everyone involved on this special success. I would like to express my special thanks to the dedicated colleague and colleagues from the Perg district. Their proactive intervention and exemplary initial investigations at the crime scene formed the basis for further investigations by the LKA and made it possible to subsequently arrest the group of perpetrators.

Major Clemens Flixeder, Bezirkspolizeikommandant des Bezirks Perg

Two 19-year-old perpetrators
The Perg police first responders requested available district patrols and plainclothes patrols of the Upper Austrian Criminal Police Office for the purpose of searching for accomplices, whereby two 19-year-olds from Wels were found and arrested in the vicinity of the school at 1.25 a.m. on 8 January. Investigations revealed evidence of other accomplices, and following reports by the Upper Austrian Criminal Police Office, the Wels public prosecutor's office issued three arrests for the accomplices.

Criminal clothing and stolen goods found
On January 14, a 22-year-old from the district of Wels-Land, a 20-year-old from the district of Grieskirchen and an 18-year-old from Wels were arrested by detectives from the Upper Austrian Criminal Police Office with the support of requested district patrols. In the course of searches of the premises, burglary tools, clothing and stolen goods were found and seized.

Further investigations are underway
The six suspects were taken to Wels prison after the initial investigations were completed. The 19-year-old Bulgarian citizen, who was arrested in Narrn, has since been released from custody. 

The arrest of the perpetrators made it possible to solve a series of at least 65 burglaries in educational establishments in Upper Austria. The aim of the suspects was to obtain cash or saleable electronics through the break-ins. The investigation by the Upper Austrian Criminal Police Office is still ongoing.