As of: January 25, 2024, 6:28 p.m
By: Johannes Welte
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A thief was flown in a police helicopter over snow-covered Alpine peaks from Kleinwalsertal to Feldkirch.
© imago stock&people
A strange legal situation and unique geographical conditions helped a suspected hotel thief in Austria get a free helicopter flight over the Alps.
Riezlern - A hotelier caught the 64-year-old homeless German on Tuesday afternoon (January 23rd) when he sneaked into his office in Hirschegg in Vorarlberg (Austria) via a back entrance and was clearing out a cash register.
The man caught ran off on foot, the hotelier followed in the car.
The isolated location makes the valley in Austria a special case
At the bridge in Riezlern he caught up with the thief and ran after him.
The 64-year-old hid but was betrayed by a passerby.
Eventually the victim was able to grab the suspect and hold him until the police arrived.
But she couldn't drive him in the patrol car to the district prison in Feldkirch in Vorarlberg.
There is only one road leading into Kleinwalsertal, which belongs to Austria, that comes from Bavaria.
The prisoner transport would therefore have taken place across German territory.
Thief sees snow-covered Alps from above – transport to prison in Austria
But: “A German citizen may not be transferred by Austrian police across German territory to an Austrian prison because of the European extradition agreement,” explains police spokesman Fabian Marchetti to
IPPEN.MEDIA
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That's why the 64-year-old was flown to Feldkirch in the Austrian police helicopter.
If he had been Austrian, he would have been chauffeured in a patrol car through Bavaria to Vorarlberg.
According to Marchetti, the suspected thief had several previous convictions and there was already an arrest warrant against him.
Recently, a series of earthquakes near the Bavarian border kept Austria in suspense.
In addition, a wind farm planned for the Zugspitze on the Tyrolean side is causing discussions.
And Austria is planning to introduce a toll on the Fern Pass, which is popular with tourists.