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CRIME

Store detective jumps on car to save leather jacket

Having possibly seen one too many action movies, a middle-aged German store detective went beyond the call of duty on Saturday when he jumped on the bonnet of a getaway car to prevent the theft of a leather jacket.

Published: 2 April 2012 17:25 CEST
Store detective jumps on car to save leather jacket
A stuntman demonstrates a car bonnet stunt. Photo: DPA

Berlin security guard Peter J. spotted two shoplifters stealing a black leather jacket from the “14 oz Outlet” designer clothes store in a trendy shopping district in the centre of Berlin.

Springing into action, the 51-year-old chased the pair outside and stood in front of their car, a BMW Coupé, to block their escape.

“The driver drove into his leg,” a police spokesman told newspaper Bild. “But he just stood there.”

The thieves finally managed to set off, but Peter J., taking his cue straight from Hollywood, flung himself onto the car’s bonnet and clung there for what witnesses said was “more than 50 metres”.

At this point, the would-be shoplifters, knowing they were no match for this heroic store detective, dropped the jacket out of the window. Then Peter J, considering that his duty was done, calmly dismounted, brushed himself off and returned the jacket to the shop.

The thieves were able to flee unidentified.

The Local/bk

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CRIME

Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

A 17-year-old has turned himself in to police in Germany after an attack on a lawmaker that the country's leaders decried as a threat to democracy.

Published: 5 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Teenager turns self in after attack on German politician

The teenager reported to police in the eastern city of Dresden early Sunday morning and said he was “the perpetrator who had knocked down the SPD politician”, police said in a statement.

Matthias Ecke, 41, European parliament lawmaker for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), was set upon by four attackers as he put up EU election posters in Dresden on Friday night, according to police.

Ecke was “seriously injured” and required an operation after the attack, his party said.

Scholz on Saturday condemned the attack as a threat to democracy.

“We must never accept such acts of violence,” he said.

Ecke, who is head of the SPD’s European election list in the Saxony region, was just the latest political target to be attacked in Germany.

Police said a 28-year-old man putting up posters for the Greens had been “punched” and “kicked” earlier in the evening on the same Dresden street.

Last week two Greens deputies were abused while campaigning in Essen in western Germany and another was surrounded by dozens of demonstrators in her car in the east of the country.

According to provisional police figures, 2,790 crimes were committed against politicians in Germany in 2023, up from 1,806 the previous year, but less than the 2,840 recorded in 2021, when legislative elections took place.

A group of activists against the far right has called for demonstrations against the attack on Ecke in Dresden and Berlin on Sunday, Der Spiegel magazine said.

According to the Tagesspiegel newspaper, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser is planning to call a special conference with Germany’s regional interior ministers next week to address violence against politicians.

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