Probably mentally ill

Burglar flees with garden rake – warning shot!

In this street, the pensioner had an armed confrontation with the burglar. The police managed to arrest the suspect.(Bild: Martin A. Jöchl)

With a warning shot from his handgun, a homeowner in Vienna-Floridsdorf put a burglar to flight on Sunday night. The 39-year-old had allegedly used a garden rake he had found at the scene of the crime to break open a fly screen on a patio door.

It was around 4 a.m. when a 78-year-old homeowner in Dominik-Wölfel-Gasse in Vienna-Floridsdorf was startled out of his sleep - and immediately became alarmed.

Warning shot in the air by pensioners
A dark figure had indeed emerged from the dawn, snatching a garden rake lying around from his victim's barn.

But the criminal had not reckoned with the pensioner. Although the perpetrator - who was later identified as a Polish citizen - is said to have already broken open the fly screen, the potential intruder was already looking down the barrel of a handgun that the man legally owned.

The pensioner courageously stormed out of the building and fired a warning shot into the air without flinching.

Attempted escape without success
The criminal fled in shock. A concerted manhunt by officers from the Floridsdorf municipal police command, the police dog unit and WEGA forces led to the 39-year-old being arrested and taken to a prison.

Perpetrator possibly mentally ill
"During questioning, the alleged perpetrator stated that he had gaps in his memory," reported Dittrich on Monday. Further statements by the man that he "hears voices" would suggest a possible mental illness. The Vienna public prosecutor's office ordered him to be taken to a prison.