Caution advised

Brazen criminals have expensive tools in their sights

For weeks, criminals have been targeting flatbed trucks belonging to construction companies, especially those parked around the state capital. Their target: the boxes containing valuable tools.

A group specializing in tools is currently keeping numerous companies around the state capital on tenterhooks. Since the second week of February, the strangers have been particularly active in the municipalities of Prinzersdorf, Herzogenburg and Traismauer. "There has been an increase in cases here," the police advise potential victims to be more careful.

Damage already in five figures
The thieves mainly target flatbed trucks. And there again the toolboxes mounted on them. In at least eleven cases, the perpetrators forced open the boxes and stole tools and equipment from them. The material damage is also enormous. The total damage is said to be well into the five-figure euro range.

We assume that the perpetrators are targeting vehicles in public parking lots or in front of residential buildings.

Bezirkspolizeikommandant Philipp Harold

As the criminals are presumably targeting company cars parked in unguarded areas, the executive recommends parking cars in well-lit areas, securing toolboxes with additional padlocks and removing the valuable contents from the vehicle overnight. "Alarm systems can have a preventative effect," says district police commander Philipp Harold.