"Watch out at the station"

Minimum pensioner robbed: “Shopping money gone!”

The pensioner from Linz wants to warn commuters and visitors to Linz Central Station to be careful.(Bild: Horst Einöder/Flashpictures)

A pensioner (73) from Linz was the victim of a vicious robbery at the main railway station. A previously unknown perpetrator took around 40 euros from his jacket and made off with it. In the "Krone" newspaper, the victim now wants to protect others from his fate and urges caution.

"I want to warn people and make them aware of such dangers so that the same thing doesn't happen to them!" Eduard A. was the victim of a vicious attack at Linz main station on Tuesday.

Shopping after the fair
"I came from mass in the Carmelite Church early in the morning and wanted to do my weekly shopping. So I took the streetcar to the main station and took the escalator up to the checkout level," explains the 73-year-old from Linz. But his plans were thwarted by a previously unknown perpetrator.

The man went straight back down the other escalator to the streetcars and disappeared with my cash.

Eduard A.

Notices someone reaching into his pocket
"Suddenly I noticed someone reaching into my pocket and pulling out my money," says the stunned pensioner. He immediately called for help and made a ruckus, but to no avail: "The man immediately ran back down the other escalator to the streetcars and disappeared with my cash. I didn't see him there again," says the Linzer with the Swabian accent, exasperated.

Elderly man with a rucksack
He immediately filed a report with the local police station because the unknown man should have been visible on the CCTV footage. "I didn't get a good look at him, I just recognized that it was an older man with a rucksack," recalls the victim.

Only victim confirmation instead of banknotes
It is particularly bitter that the 40 euros or so in cash were intended for his weekly shopping. "It may not be a lot of money for everyone, but it would have fed me for the rest of the week," says the minimum wage pensioner dejectedly.

Instead of the banknotes, he was left with a victim's receipt from the police, which he couldn't use to buy food. "That's why I want to use my story to warn others that you should be particularly careful at the main station," says Eduard A.