More damage than loot

Burglars struck twice in one night

The perpetrators smashed the doors with an emergency hammer.(Bild: Matthias Lauber/laumat.at)

On Friday night, two as yet unknown perpetrators smashed the front doors of a tobacconist's and a hairdresser's store. The two crime scenes in Wels-Neustadt are less than a hundred meters apart. The duo managed to escape unnoticed.

More damage than loot: this is how the night-time burglary spree of a duo in Wels can be briefly summarized. At around half past midnight, the pair smashed the front door of a tobacconist's and the glass doors of a hairdresser's store, presumably with an emergency hammer. "They were obviously after money, but didn't find it because it was locked in the safe," says tobacconist Ernst Taubner, who was able to capture the entire break-in on surveillance cameras.

Possibly juvenile perpetrators
The perpetrators - one of whom is said to have worn a white cap - did not want to leave without any loot after all. "They took a few e-cigarettes. But I'll have to take a closer look at the cameras to see if anything else is missing," says Taubner. The hard-working tobacconist had spent four hours tidying up after the break-in so that he could open his store at 6 a.m. on the dot. "The police assume that it was teenagers," Taubner was told that night.

Investigations continue
The duo also tried their luck at the hairdresser's store almost next door. But according to the store manager, it was mainly property damage there too. It was not yet clear this morning what exactly was taken. According to the police, further investigations are being carried out by the criminal investigation department of the Wels municipal police command and are still ongoing.