After two electric cars go up in flames at City Hall, a 54-year-old is arrested. The police are not currently confirming that this recently triggered a major alarm in Coburg – but they are not denying it either.
Two Coburg official cars were set on fire at the Coburg town hall on Wednesday night, both electric cars. The fire threatened to spread to a nearby bank and City Hall. Shortly thereafter, the police were able to arrest a 54-year-old suspect from Coburg, who is suspected of having set fire to the two city vehicles – the official cars of the mayor and the mayor of Coburg. According to information from Süddeutsche Zeitung the man is well known. He is said to have triggered a major alarm in Coburg six months ago. An object that looked like a bomb from a distance caused the market square to be closed for several hours on a Saturday morning in February.
Mayor Dominik Sauerteig (SPD) was “shocked and appalled” by the crime on Wednesday morning. It’s hard to imagine “what could have happened if the fire department hadn’t arrived on time” – and “the company cars had been extinguished in time”. “The savings bank, the town hall, the entire block could have been on fire,” said the mayor. You might have had to experience an “inferno”. Fortunately, attentive neighbors would have notified the fire brigade quickly.
Many employees in the town hall are now concerned: “What happens next? I hope the culprit can be held accountable for his actions,” said the head of the town hall. On request, the police did not confirm that the 54-year-old arrested was the 54-year-old who had organized the large-scale operation in Coburg six months ago. But don’t deny it either. In February, an employee of the city administration discovered a suspicious garbage bag, a bag and a note with a confused message on the door of the citizens’ office. A symbol attached to the hodgepodge reminded of a radioactivity warning from afar. The major alarm that was triggered had kept the local police, the fire brigade and special forces from Munich busy for hours – and caused disillusionment at the Coburg market square because of the loss of sales on Saturday.
The man has been keeping the police busy for a long time
The 54-year-old was taken into custody in February but was released shortly thereafter. The case had been evaluated by different authorities, a police spokesman said after the release. It came to the conclusion that the 54-year-old no longer posed any danger. According to the accused, the action was “a big misunderstanding that backfired,” the police spokesman told media representatives in February. According to the Chief Public Prosecutor Otto Heyder, the investigation into the disturbance of public peace through the threat of criminal offenses in the case has not yet been completed.
In the weeks before, the man is said to have kept the police busy. According to information from Coburg new press he was therefore noticed with “swastika daubs” and notes with sexist content. According to SZ information, the man is said to have been in a relationship with a town hall employee in the past before the relationship broke up.
The police estimate the property damage incurred on Wednesday night at 100,000 euros. The Coburg police are now looking for witnesses to the crime.