Search for perpetrator

Car hooligan “plowed up” sports field for the second time

On Saturday night, the stranger again did several laps of the pitch in Waldzell - the damage is considerable.

(Bild: SV Waldzell)

Last weekend, an unknown driver once again destroyed the turf of SV Waldzell (Upper Austria). The small club will presumably have to pay the repair costs again, just like the first time. For the time being, there are no clues that could lead to the perpetrator. All hopes are now pinned on the viewing of private video recordings.

What basically nobody had expected has actually happened: The car hooligan who had already caused considerable damage to the SV Waldzell sports field on January 15 may have struck again on Saturday night. According to the evidence, the speeding driver did several illegal laps of the pitch in his car, causing massive damage to the pitch.

Specialists needed for renovation
"Unfortunately, the pitch is even more badly damaged this time than the first time, because most of the ground was still frozen in January," says Josef Helm (42), deputy chairman of SV Waldzell. While a group of volunteers worked for a whole day back then to "iron out" the damage to some extent, experts had to be called in this time. The spring championship starts in just two weeks.

The hooligan left his tire tracks on the pitch for the first time on January 15.

(Bild: SV Waldzell)

We are grateful for any information that could lead to the hooligan being identified. We have also improved the technical security of the pitch.

Josef Helm (42), Obmann-Stellvertreter des SV Waldzell

Financially painful
"The renovation will cost more than 2,000 euros. For a small club like ours, that's a lot of money that we have to raise outside of our budget," says Helm with annoyance - especially in view of the fact that the construction of a new sports pitch is also planned soon: "Of course, this sum is painful for us."

It is unclear who could be behind the acts of vandalism, and there are no suspicions as to the motive. "There have been no conflicts with other clubs or fan groups in the past that would make an act of revenge theoretically conceivable," emphasizes Helm.

Criminal charges have now been filed with the police again. "We hope that private surveillance cameras in the area will perhaps provide evidence so that the perpetrator can finally be tracked down," says the vice-chairman.

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Mit sozialer Arbeit gegen Fadesse

The mystery surrounding the motive of the unknown car hooligan is great on all sides. The officials of SV Waldzell have no idea for the time being why someone chose their soccer pitch of all places as a rally testing ground.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Alexander Schwarzl, Markus Wenzel)

Theoretically, there are several possibilities. It could be an act of revenge, a drunken prank, a test of courage, a tire test or a rascal's prank, which is often driven by boredom. But anyone who destroys other people's property out of idleness and sabotages the work of dozens of volunteers will hopefully be sentenced to social work by the justice system after being investigated.