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08. 09. 10. - 09:00

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08. 09. 10. - 09:00

Scrap thieves collared after loaded car gets stuck

Romanian Times

Unlucky metal thieves were arrested after their van got stuck in mud at the weekend, Austrian police have said.

The trio broke into a factory in Mitterdorf in Styria’s Mürzzuschlag district and loaded around one tonne of expensive metal devices into their vehicle on Saturday night, Austrian Times reports.

The Romanian crooks were forced to unload various items again after failing to escape across a rain-soaked field.

The robbers decided to abandon the car and all their loot – but were arrested when they returned to give it one more shot the next day. An attentive janitor spotted the men – two Romanians aged 36 and 42 and a Lower Austrian scrap dealer, 45 – when they tried to drag the stuck car out of the sludge.

The criminals – who denied the break-in – are in custody in Leoben prison, local police announced yesterday (Tues).

The incident is the latest in a series of metal and copper thefts across the country.

Styrian officials are still investigating after thieves made off with 3.5 tonnes of non-ferrous metal worth around 51,000 Euros from a firm’s estate in Döllach in Bruck and der Mur district four weeks ago.

Vienna officials said earlier this year they had arrested a Romanian for stealing copper cables from a building site. The man admitted he had already taken copper material 10 times before as he could make use of it for his own business.

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