Tied up in an apartment

Home invasion: Halloween turns into horror for couple

The police are currently searching intensively for the as yet unknown perpetrators.(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

They were expecting children asking for sweets, but instead of young people in disguise, a couple from Vienna-Hitzing opened their apartment door to criminals on Friday night. They were tied up and robbed by the two dark, armed figures. Beatings, firecrackers and further break-ins also kept the police on their toes in other parts of Austria.

It has been commonplace for people to ring the doorbell on October 31st in the evening: the trend from the United States of children in costumes going around the houses to get hold of sweets has long since established itself in our part of the world. 

Criminals in Vienna's 13th district shamelessly took advantage of this: They rang the bell at an apartment building between the Ober St. Veit and Braunschweiggasse subway stations. But instead of chocolate or sweets, the duo were after something completely different.

Forced into the apartment with a firearm
The couple in question had already prepared sweets for Halloween. When the couple opened the front door after the suspects had shouted a typical Halloween slogan, the dark-clad figures suddenly pushed the couple against the door. Holding a firearm in front of them, they forced the couple into the apartment and tied them up. Meanwhile, the perpetrators searched the rooms for valuables. They finally fled with cash, jewelry and cell phones worth tens of thousands of euros. The 79-year-old woman was later able to free herself from her restraints and get help from a neighbor, who called the police. The couple remained physically unharmed.

The police are looking for two unknown perpetrators and are asking the public for information. According to the victims, both men are very slim and were wearing all black clothing, including a jacket, trousers, shoes and gloves. The first perpetrator was around 180 to 185 centimetres tall, had light blue eyes and wore a full black mask, probably consisting of a scarf and hood with a white vertical stripe from the forehead to the back of the neck. The second perpetrator was slightly smaller, around 175 to 180 centimeters tall, also wearing a black mask, presumably with a hood and scarf. Both spoke German with a Slavic accent. 

Several burglaries in Carinthia
In Carinthia, too, previously unknown perpetrators took the opportunity to break into single-family homes when the owners were not at home. In the district of St. Veit an der Glan, patio doors were smashed in three cases in order to gain access. In one case, criminals had it particularly easy: the homeowners had not even locked their patio doors. 

In a break-in in the village of Brückl, a detached house was ransacked - the perpetrators were able to flee with cash amounting to several thousand euros. Coins, including collector coins, were stolen in the municipality of Althofen, also in the St. Veit/Glan district. The police cannot currently rule out the possibility that the two crimes are connected. 

In the district of Villach-Land, two burglaries were reported in Arnoldstein. Here too, the houses were searched for valuables and cash and a small safe were stolen. Here too, it is possible that both thefts were carried out by the same perpetrators.