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Essen police headquarters (archive image)
Photo: Rupert Oberhäuser / imago images/Rupert Oberhäuser
Police special forces stormed the wrong apartment in Essen – and gave a 28-year-old man such a great fright.
The "Bild" newspaper and several regional media such as the "Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung" (WAZ) reported on the incident, which happened a few days ago.
According to the police, on January 25, at around 8:15 a.m., the SEK broke into an apartment near the Zeche Zollverein.
They were looking for a suspect who allegedly threatened students with a gun.
After the door was broken open, an "irritation body" was thrown into the apartment.
The man was overpowered and tied up.
Since a personal description was available, the error was noticed immediately, it said.
According to SPIEGEL information, the officers got the wrong floor and found the man they were looking for a floor below.
According to their own statements, the police assured the innocent arrested person that they would pay the repair costs for his damaged door and offered him psychosocial support.
When the head of the Essen special forces found out about the unsuccessful operation, he also visited the man personally and gave him an official letter of apology as well as a 50-euro voucher for an online mail order company that he had paid for privately.
This in turn apparently outraged the man's lawyer.
"This behavior is extremely indecent," said the lawyer of the "WAZ".
His client, a student, is suffering physically and mentally from the consequences of the operation.
"According to comparable procedures, the damages could be in the five-figure range, that would be appropriate," said the lawyer.
The police reacted to this in turn: "In the media reporting, this SEK operation was reduced solely to this gesture," according to a Facebook entry by the authority.
"It would have been fair, honest and truthful to clearly differentiate between a human gesture of apology (voucher) and any claims for damages and compensation for pain and suffering." The private and sincere action of the SEK boss has no influence on a possible compensation procedure.
Both should be considered independently of each other.
wit
