Masked teenager tries to strangle with a rope!

Masked teenager tries to strangle with a rope!

On Monday evening there was a terrifying incident in Vienna-Penzing when a 52-year-old taxi driver was attacked by a masked passenger. The taxi driver had previously promoted the unknown passenger by a taxi rank when the attack on the sanatorium road began. Suddenly the attacker tried to choke the driver with a rope while the vehicle came to a stop. Fortunately, the driver was able to free himself from this dangerous situation and the attacker fled towards Raimannstrasse. The detailed description of the perpetrator speaks of a person of about 150 cm in size, who was completely dressed in black and had covered his face with a mouth nose protection.

The taxi driver was taken care of by the Vienna professional rescue and taken to a hospital after the incident. No further information is known about its state of health. The police are now investigating and asks the population for relevant information that can be given to any police station. As reports Kosmo, it is not the first incident of this kind in the federal capital, where crime has risen again in recent years.

crime in Vienna in focus

The current situation of crime in Austria cannot be denied. In 2023, a total of around 528,000 crimes were reported, which marked the highest level since 2016. Over a third of these offenses occurred in Vienna - around 186,000. The approximately 85,400 publicly noticed offenses are particularly alarming, which also represent a record value. This raises questions about how security in urban space will develop.

The numbers also show that drug crime has also increased. In 2023, around 35,400 crimes were reported in this area in Austria, with a large part, around 9,960, in Vienna. Cannabis remains the most frequent addictive. The increasing trend in crime could partially be due to the perception of the population, since 70% of Austrians believe that immigrants would tighten the problem of crime. Around 43% of the suspects and convicts were foreigners in 2022, with the largest proportion from Romania, Germany and Serbia.

public perception and trust in the police

Trust in the police still seems to be relatively strong despite the tense situation. A survey from the spring of 2024 showed that 77% of Austrians have confidence in the police. This could help the population to be more willing to contact the authorities when it comes to solving such incidents. However, the incident in Penzing shows that preventive measures and an increased police presence are necessary to ensure the security in Vienna, especially in view of the increasing number of crime, which also last Meinverkirk were discussed.

The citizens of Vienna should remain vigilant and support the security forces to prevent similar attacks in the future. Every hint can be crucial to hold the perpetrators into account and to strengthen the feeling of security in the city.