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Selfie puts burglars in Simmering behind bars - cell phone away!
A Slovakian man was arrested in Simmering after a selfie with a stolen cell phone caught him.
Selfie puts burglars in Simmering behind bars - cell phone away!
A surprising case has unfolded in Vienna that shows how technology and crime are often linked in unexpected ways. On June 6, a 40-year-old Slovakian citizen entered an office in Simmering through an open window and stole a cell phone. But instead of an inconspicuous theft, the perpetrator was ultimately caught through a selfie he took with the stolen cell phone. This sensational story begins when the image, which was automatically uploaded to the cloud, was discovered by its rightful owner. He recognized the man and shared his discovery with his brother-in-law, as Heute reports.
The rightful owner was lucky in misfortune. He showed the photo to his brother-in-law, and it wasn't long before he happened to see the suspect in a supermarket. The brother-in-law alerted the police emergency number with presence of mind. The officers from the Kaiser-Ebersdorfer-Straße police station reacted quickly and were able to arrest the 40-year-old man. When searching the suspect, the police also found five ATM cards, which may also have been stolen. The stolen smartphone, however, remains missing while investigations into the origin of the ATM cards are ongoing.
The legal consequences
What happened to the suspect after the arrest? The man made no confessions during his interrogation and was released provisionally on the orders of the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office. Such decisions are by no means unusual and make it clear that investigations into theft are often more complex than expected. With an increase in theft crimes in recent years, the police are facing greater challenges. In 2022 alone, around 1.78 million thefts were recorded in Germany - an increase compared to previous years, as Statista suggests.
In addition, the clearance rate for residential burglaries is just 16.1%. This means that solving such cases is often not easy. The police are therefore required to thoroughly investigate the background to these incidents.
An example of modern crime?
The case of the Slovakian citizen is a classic example of how crime manifests itself in today's world. Modern technology, such as the cloud system that automatically uploaded the selfie, can be used both as a tool for the perpetrator and for solving crimes. While theft remains a major societal problem, developing effective detection methods remains one of the greatest challenges for law enforcement.
In the case of Simmering, it remains to be seen how the situation surrounding the ATM cards will develop and whether the stolen smartphone will still be found. This story shows once again that crime and technology are closely linked - sometimes in unexpected ways.