By Christian Bart
In two cases, two perpetrators robbed passers-by on New Year’s Eve in Berlin-Mitte with a lousy scam: first they offered them help to get close to them, then they robbed their victims!
► Case 1: A 23-year-old left a club on Karl-Marx-Allee around 1 a.m. because of nausea. Two men are said to have offered him help and left the club’s entrance area with him.
Then, on a nearby street, the robbery: According to the police, one of the men held a knife to the chin of the 23-year-old and demanded money and a mobile phone.
The perpetrators took the man’s fanny pack. The man tried to defend himself, but to no avail. He suffered minor injuries to his hands. The perpetrators fled with the loot.
► Case 2: About 30 minutes after the crime at around 1:30 a.m., two men then attacked a woman on Bernhard-Weiß-Strasse in Mitte – according to the police, they were the same perpetrators.
The 32-year-old is said to have been frightened by an exploded firecracker and therefore leaned against a house wall. The two men are said to have offered their help, the woman refused.
One of the two is said to have pushed the 32-year-old to the ground and stolen a pack of cigarettes from her jacket pocket.
According to the police, the woman was lying on the ground and tried to defend herself with kicks. One of the men is said to have grabbed her in the direction of her genital area.
The woman started screaming, and the perpetrators fled. Passers-by came to the woman’s aid.
On the sidewalk, the woman discovered an ID card and a payment card. According to the police, they belonged to the 23-year-old who had been robbed on Karl-Marx-Allee – he later got them back.
In both cases, a robbery department of the criminal police is now investigating.