By Dirk Böttger, Isabel Pfannkuche and Maren Wittge
They hunted down security staff with striking tools and tear gas. They were just able to save themselves in a lifeguard tower. Shortly thereafter, the police grabbed three suspects. Now the police are still looking for suspected attackers.
The three men aged 19, 23 and 24 arrested on Tuesday evening after the incident were released after the officers took their personal details, a police spokeswoman said on Thursday morning.
Now more security personnel should ensure more protection in the Columbiabad. Officials set up a mobile guard in front of the bathroom on Thursday, the press office said. The local patrol officers also keep an eye on other pools.
Brawl, sending off, attack on security
First there was a violent fight in the summer swimming pool in Neukölln. After that, three of the thugs came back and specifically attacked the pool security.
Tuesday, 6.30 p.m. In the evening heat, after a fight between twelve young men, those involved were expelled from the Columbiadamm swimming pool. “Then the three suspects (19, 23, 24) returned with a group of a similar size, some over the fences and the main entrance,” explains a police spokesman.
According to witnesses, the group, armed with striking tools and tear gas, then attacked the security service employees.
Three security men, who the group was apparently targeting, fled to the lifeguard tower and locked themselves in there. The three attackers tried in vain to break down the door. When the police arrived, the thugs fled.
The security staff had to flee into this lifeguard tower (archive image) Photo: Olaf Selchow
Eleven injured in Columbiabad brawl
Eleven people, including six bathers, four security people and a paramedic, were injured and some had to be treated in hospital.
Officers caught the three suspects in a Ford nearby. A baton, baseball bat and knife were found in the car. The men were later released.
“The Berlin police will not tolerate such behavior and will take action against it with police presence measures – with officers in uniform and in civilian clothes,” police chief Barbara Slowik told the “Tagesspiegel”. “This incident has a new quality and has nothing to do with the disputes that we know from the past months and years.” In addition to the Columbiabad, the police also have other pools in view.
The board of directors of the Berlin baths operations was dismayed on Wednesday: “This violence affects us very much.” He announced that the police wanted to continue to support the baths operations in securing them.
There were riots in outdoor pools in the capital again and again. At the end of June, police officers and security guards were also harassed by up to 250 bathers in Columbiabad. A dispute arose after spraying with a water gun. Just a few days earlier, a mass brawl broke out at Steglitzer Bad am Insulaner after a splash with water pistols.