Vestment, cash and jewelry stolen: gang of burglars caught

2023-06-24 13:42:00

As early as February, the police managed to track down the men between the ages of 24 and 43. The gang had already laid down their ingenious plan in Romania before they traveled to Linz – initially as a foursome – and checked into a hotel. A fifth perpetrator came by train from Romania to Linz and joined the group there, the police reported on Saturday.

The men broke into several churches and older buildings – mostly in rural areas – that they had previously spied on every day. They broke into the buildings using either massive muscle power or burglary tools and stole jewelry and cash. They convert the jewelery into money at a gold sales point in Linz.

Katsdorfer Tabernacle in sight

When they broke into the Katsdorf parish church (Perg district), they even tried to steal a bronze tabernacle weighing 200 kilograms. During the transport into the escape vehicle, however, churchgoers came into the parish church, so that the perpetrators had to park the stolen goods and flee without having achieved anything.

Quarrel over a suitcase with chasuble

Then, on February 15, the criminal investigation department of the Urfahr area district police command finally tracked down the perpetrator’s vehicle with Romanian license plates. While a search was being launched, the suspects broke into the office of the Hartkirchen parish (Eferding district) and stole coins and a suitcase with chasubles and utensils. On the run, however, a dispute may have arisen between the men about where the stolen items should be kept. They then threw the stolen goods out of the vehicle under a bush in Feldkirchen an der Donau and decided to drive back to Romania.

However, they did not get far: on the way to Linz, they were finally caught by a police patrol on the B127 and arrested. Officers found a large amount of stolen property in the vehicle.

The five suspects were transferred to the Linz prison by order of the Linz public prosecutor’s office. By hiding part of the loot, irreparable material damage was caused, but in particular non-material damage. The accused are no strangers: Two of the men have already committed criminal offenses in Germany, and there is even an international arrest warrant for one.

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#Vestment #cash #jewelry #stolen #gang #burglars #caught

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