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Broken cupboards, ransacked files: This is how the police found one of the crime scenes
Photo: Police Oberhausen
More than twenty cases within a few weeks: A group of children and young people is said to be responsible for a series of burglaries in schools and daycare centers in Oberhausen in North Rhine-Westphalia.
After a large call for witnesses, the police have now caught some of the alleged perpetrators in the act.
The group of about a dozen children and young people between the ages of nine and 16 is said to have broken into daycare centers and schools in Oberhausen since the beginning of September.
There they are said to have broken open doors and cupboards and caused a variety of devastation.
A statement from the police said the property damage caused was in the six-digit range.
Some already known to the police
In mid-October, investigators from the Oberhausen Youth Commissariat launched an appeal for witnesses in which they asked residents living near schools, kindergartens and other educational institutions to be particularly vigilant and provide information.
Parents were also asked to pay attention to whether there were videos or photos of possible crimes on their children's cell phones.
At the same time, the investigators followed indications of suspicious children and young people who had been noticed near some crime scenes and evaluated the secured traces, the statement said.
Through the information collected, the investigators became aware of some children and young people who "had already appeared in connection with police operations".
Last Friday, civil investigators finally caught the group of children in another attempted break-in and transported them to the police station.
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