By Katharina Metag and Dirk Böttger
The first balmy early summer night of the year immediately turned into a stress test for the police – riots and violence in our city’s parks!
After various crimes, the James-Simon-Park in Mitte had to be cleared and fenced in, as was the case several times in the past year. And in Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, pickpockets, graffiti sprayers and violent criminals challenged the officers.
► Several hundred people celebrated in the park on the banks of the Spree. After an attack on a 20-year-old at around 11:30 p.m., the mood changed. “To prevent further escalation, the park was completely cleared,” said a police spokesman.
Hundreds of people were needed during the night to bring the escalating violence in the park under control Photo: spreepicture
According to him, this was preceded by a dispute between two groups. As a result, three men hit the 20-year-old and kicked him when he was on the ground. Two friends who came to his aid were also attacked – the perpetrators were able to escape. A man was stabbed there and seriously injured on the Ascension Day.
► Last year, thousands of people went to the park for parties again and again due to club and bar closures due to the corona pandemic. There were sometimes violent clashes between revelers and police officers. The district responsible then closed James Simon Park at night. Now a fence has been put up again around Berlin’s most dangerous park. Politicians must now decide when an access ban will take effect.
A fence has already been put up again at James-Simon-Park in Mitte Photo: Press Photo Wagner
► The police also checked in the neighboring Monbijoupark. Around 300 people had gathered there. A total of around 60 police officers were on site. Based on the experiences of the past summer months, the police want to monitor the situation in the Berlin parks more closely.
Police officers in protective gear block the passage from Monbijou Park to James Simon Park Photo: spreepicture
► Around 1.45 a.m., passers-by alerted the police to Görlitzer Park (Kreuzberg) because of a fight. However, the investigators only found a 26-year-old bleeding heavily from the head. The Tunisian said he got into a fight with three men. One of the attackers, described as 20 to 30 years old and of African descent, is said to have hit him with a bottle. The injured person did not want to go to a clinic. The perpetrators escaped.
This Tunisian (26) was injured in an argument with a bottle on the head, he didn’t want to go to a clinic Photo: spreepicture
► Police officers caught a so-called Antänzer around 1.10 a.m. on the Oberbaumbrücke after the victim of a pickpocket had pursued and arrested the perpetrator. The 22-year-old noticed how the man stole his wallet from his back pocket at Görlitzer Park and ran after the fugitive while witnesses dialed the emergency number. Through the AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System), the investigators knew immediately that the arrested person was well known. The 33-year-old Syrian was taken into police custody.
The fingerprints of the arrested pickpocket (33) were checked in the police car. The Syrian was apparently already well known and was then taken into custody Photo: spreepicture
► Four US tourists who were caught spraying graffiti on Rudolfstrasse (Friedrichshain) around 1.30 a.m. tried to get away with a clumsy excuse. You wouldn’t have known that you weren’t allowed to do that in Germany. Little credible as the men (28-32) ran away from the police officers who saw them in the act.
Two of the four sprayers were caught immediately, with two others arrested nearby. The Americans had daubed the privacy fence of a day care center over a length of about 10 meters Photo: spreepicture
