Strange Wega operation

Attempted robbery: teenagers hide under cardboard boxes

The suspects are said to have used a wooden sword to break into the store cash register.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/LPD Wien)

An unusual incident occurred during a Wega operation: four teenagers are suspected of robbing an electronics store on Thursday night. Two of them tried to hide from the emergency services under cardboard boxes in the storeroom - without success. 

When witnesses observed four youths apparently trying to smash a window of an electrical store, they immediately alerted the police in Vienna-Favoriten.

Hidden under cardboard boxes
During the search of the store, officers from the Wega special unit made a bizarre discovery. Two of the suspected burglars, aged twelve and 13, apparently saw the cardboard boxes in the storeroom as the only place to hide.

The third, a 15-year-old suspect, fled through a connecting window into the neighboring apartment. He was stopped there by a resident.

Robbery in the four-digit euro range
If the four youngsters had remained undetected, they would probably have been a few thousand euros richer. The suspects allegedly used a wooden sword to break open the store cash register and stole cash in the four-figure range. The officers also recovered balaclavas and work gloves.

The 15-year-old suspect was provisionally arrested and later released by order of the Vienna public prosecutor's office. The 12-year-old and the 13-year-old were charged and handed over to their parents.