Crime in Bad Godesberg Thieves target E-bikes
Bad Godesberg · Police in Bonn caught two suspects red-handed in Mehlem. They had been targeting E-bikes there. Meanwhile, an E-bike was stolen in Plitterdorf.
As had been feared by police with the start of the winter season when it turns dark early, burglars are on the move again, including in Bad Godesberg. Some thieves appeared to be targeting E-bikes in particular. Two cases, which apparently took place in a close time frame, were reported to Bonn police. Between Tuesday, 6 p.m., and Wednesday, 6:20 a.m., thieves stole an E-bike from an underground garage of an apartment building on Gotenstrasse in Plittersdorf.
According to the Bonn police press office, the thieves got into the underground garage through a defective roller shutter and then broke open a chain lock on a bike, the bike having been locked up. The suspects fled the scene with a blue Raleigh E-bike, without anyone having seen them.
The next incident was on Wednesday afternoon on Rüdigerstrasse in Mehlem: In the afternoon at around 3 pm, police say someone observed two suspicious persons there and called police. The duo was carrying two E-bikes, which were apparently locked. When the police officers arrived on the scene, the two young men fled. But they did not get far: police were able to stop them quickly.
After checking the situation, it turned out that the two had just stolen high-quality E-bikes in the vicinity. The owners of the bikes had not yet noticed the theft at that time.
Perpetrators known to police
The two persons were aged 30 and 31 and were known to police. They were questioned by a team from the criminal investigation department. While the 30-year-old was released after initial police questioning, his 31-year-old companion, who according to the initial findings is without a permanent address, was detained.
On the question of whether the E-bike stolen in Plittersdorf is related to the men caught in Mehlem, police spokesman Simon Rott says: "So far, there have been no concrete indications of this, but we are checking for connections between crimes in general.”
The E-bike thefts reported from Godesberg fit the picture of a significant increase in the number of thefts this year in the area covered by Bonn police: in 2022, 764 residential burglaries were committed up to November 15, according to the press office. That's 124 more offenses than in the same period last year, representing an increase of about 20 percent. This trend has continued in recent weeks, police said, with 67 more residential burglaries reported since Nov. 18. In many cases, the perpetrators used the afternoon hours or early darkness for their crimes.
To fight against the increase in crimes, police recently began with stopping and checking certain individuals. They are cracking down on criminals who are acting on a regional basis when it comes to residential burglaries and pickpocketing. On Wednesday, the police set up checkpoints in Kessenich, Beuel and Königswinter.
The criminal investigation department has begun an investigation into the E-bike thefts and is asking for information from possible witnesses. Contact: 02 28/15-0.
(Orig. text: Axel Vogel; Translation: ck)
