Cleared out:

Acid burglars strike in three houses

Adhesive strips, etched door in Neilreichgasse (right).(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Bundeskriminalamt, LPD Wien)

New year, new burglaries: the burglars who have been wreaking havoc in Vienna with corrosive nitric acid since 2022 also struck over the holidays. Three apartments - one each in Landstraße, Leopoldstadt and Favoriten - were robbed of their valuables. 

Burglaries involving toxic and corrosive nitric acid have been keeping criminologists in Vienna busy since 2022, and the gang of burglars once again shamelessly exploited the public holidays and the associated absence of many holidaying owners and tenants.

Crime scene Neilreichgasse: the acid burglars struck here too.(Bild: Zwefo)

At some point between December 23 and January 2, a total of three houses were hit. Two of them only surprised the investigators to a limited extent: As in previous months, another house in the third district was affected.

Apartments in Geusaugasse were also recently marked and others emptied.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Stefan Steinkogler, Bundeskriminalamt)

Doors marked, one apartment broken into at a time
In addition to the apartment in Modenapark, a house in Große Sperlgasse in Leopoldstadt and one in Neilreichgasse in Favoriten were also hit. In all three houses, the investigators also came across various markings with adhesive strips with which the gangsters marked all the doors in a house.

This house (right) in Krieglergasse was hit for the second time in December.(Bild: Stefan Steinkogler)

Buildings from the 60s and 70s targeted
What is striking is that all three houses were built in a similar year, as was already noticed in the fall. Apparently, buildings from the 60s and 70s are increasingly being targeted. As the "Krone" was able to find out, very little acid was used in the break-ins in Landstraße and Leopoldstadt. In Favoriten, the damage to doors and floors is probably much more extensive. 

94 Viennese apartments broken into since 2022
21 apartments - most of them in the 3rd district - were broken into in this way in 2023; since 2022, 94 Viennese apartments have probably already been cleared out by the perpetrators. In the meantime, the burglars usually move on to other European cities to move from house to house. However, the burglaries in Vienna have continued uninterrupted for several months - more coups are to be expected.