The police have arrested three men who are suspected of having committed at least 56 burglaries in kindergartens in the past seven months – 30 of them in Munich alone, the rest in and around Augsburg and Dachau.
At the end of August last year, investigators noticed that the number of break-ins in care facilities was increasing. Because the way the crime was committed was always similar, they quickly assumed it was a series. The perpetrators gained access to the interior by breaking, kicking or prying open windows.
The amount of the loot was relatively small given the number of crimes – according to the police, it is currently around 4,200 euros, even if not all cases have been fully investigated yet. The material damage is all the greater; it is currently around 20,000 euros.
Suspicion was directed at three men who specialized in such burglaries: two 25-year-olds, one of whom does not have a residence in Germany, while the other lives in Munich, and a 31-year-old from Augsburg. All three are known to the police, especially from the drug community.
On December 20, 2023, the police caught the 25-year-old from Munich trying to break into a kindergarten in Trudering. He was arrested and taken to a correctional facility – not because of the burglary, but because of another arrest warrant. He was released there on February 19th.
He and his accomplices were now placed under close surveillance. The other two suspects were arrested on March 6th after breaking into a kindergarten in Gersthofen (Augsburg district). An arrest warrant was issued against her on suspicion of gang theft. The 25-year-old was arrested in Munich on March 20th. The three men are now in different correctional facilities. It is not yet clear when they will be tried.
According to the police, the reason why the men did not choose very lucrative targets for their crimes is that they are relatively risk-free: kindergartens are generally not particularly protected against break-ins, and the perpetrators could be sure that they would be empty at night.