A dilettante thief is caught thanks to the quick reaction of a farm shop owner in Steinhöring. A camera films what is happening.
Steinhöring – When Julian Kürzeder looks at his mobile phone screen on Sunday afternoon (21 May), he can hardly believe his eyes. Using the surveillance camera of his farm shop in Steinhöring (Ebersberg district), he observes live and in color how a man with a wooden stool penetrates the metal cash register set up there. The thief thinks he is successful until things go steeply downhill for him. Firstly, because there are only a few toads from the manageable daily income in the cash register. Secondly, because Kürzeder and his girlfriend Steffi Seehuber (both 26), who run the self-service shop together, are only a two-minute drive away.
Mobile phone notification alerts farmer: He puts the perpetrator on site
Not with us: Julian Kürzeder and Steffi Seehuber (both 26) in front of their Steinhöringer farm shop. © Stefan Roßmann
The couple, alerted by the mobile phone notification, rush to Bahnhofstraße, where the garden shed-sized shop opposite the supermarket has been standing since last October. In the lovingly decorated room, they sell chicken eggs from their own farm, yoghurt, milk and cream cheese on a basis of trust. By then, they had recorded four thefts. "It's all small stuff," as Seehuber says. Nothing that would make them question their concept. What is new this time is the violence used by the thief. While his girlfriend calls the police from the car, Julian Kürzeder confronts the burglar on the spot. The lanky young man is lucky that the perpetrator doesn't attack him as much as he does on the cash register. "A bit drunk, not aggressive," the shopkeeper describes the thief.
Dilettante cash register cracker undertakes escape attempt: charge of aggravated theft
Reaching into the cash register: In the video, you can clearly see how the thief grabs a five-euro bill and some change – for which he faces a harsh punishment. © Video: Perwein Hofgut
There is no fight, the caught man waits for the alarmed police together with the caught. When, according to the two, the patrol is already half an hour in coming, the thief makes a half-hearted attempt to escape by pretending that he has to step out. After another call and a good three-quarters of an hour, the police arrived for arrest. The officials do not mention the travel time in the follow-up report. When asked, police chief Ulrich Milius does not rule out the possibility that there may have been delays due to other operations. However, the inspection does not want to disclose its operational tactics.
The perpetrator, according to the police, a 49-year-old from the district of Munich, must now expect to be charged with aggravated theft. "That was a spontaneous act," says shop owner Kürzeder, shaking his head. He and his girlfriend want to continue, of course. The bottom line is that the store is running solidly. They want to make the failed theft public as a deterrent. "It's never worth it!" says Steffi Seehuber about the manageable daily income that can be found in the cash register. Other farm shop owners in the Ebersberg district are also struggling with burglaries and thefts - and are upgrading their technology.
You can read even more news from the Ebersberg region here. By the way: Everything from the region can also be found in our regular Ebersberg newsletter.