A 35-year-old from Munich had apparently completely miscalculated his professional independence. Broke as he was, he broke into a supermarket shortly before New Year’s Eve 2021, stole cash – and also threw three Molotov cocktails into the rooms. The matter went off lightly, and in the end for him too: the district court sentenced him to a suspended prison sentence.
It remained unclear what motivated the man to make three incendiary devices and set them on fire in the supermarket, in the office and in the technical room. He said in court that he was in a difficult life situation in December 2021. It was about his finances.
That’s why on December 30th at 10:30 p.m. he pried open the door of a supermarket with a crowbar. He then broke open the cash register and stole cash amounting to 505.05 euros. He then marched into the technical room and forcibly tore the video security from its anchorage.
As the investigation revealed, he had three bottles filled with flammable liquid and a spare fuse. He threw these so-called Molotov cocktails on the ground. One went out, the other two started superficial fires. However, the sprinkler system in the supermarket went off and extinguished all the flames. Nevertheless, there was still total damage of almost 29,000 euros. Without the sprinkler system, the court was certain, “the fire would have spread to essential parts of the building.”
After his arrest, the 35-year-old made a full confession to the police. He spent three months in custody before being released pending trial. The court also gave him positive consideration for the fact that the arson had remained at the experimental stage.
The court found “clear criminal energy.”
The court noted rather negatively that the man had planned the crime well in advance and had acted “with clear criminal energy”. The Munich native had already run into trouble with the law once, albeit “to a small extent”, because of fraudulent payment of benefits, i.e. fare evasion.
In the end, the district court sentenced him to one year and nine months in prison for theft and attempted arson. The 35-year-old accepted the verdict. According to district court spokesman Martin Swoboda, the verdict is legally binding.