By Konstantin Marrach and Paul Gorgas
A good four weeks after the Hertha keeper is said to have beaten a 22-year-old local in Austria to the hospital at night on the sidelines of the second division summer training camp, the police investigation has been completed.
According to BZ information, the investigation file is to be handed over to the public prosecutor’s office at the weekend. The charge against Gersbeck is in the final report: serious bodily harm.
Bike caused a fight
According to the investigators, the momentous night should have played out as follows:
The young Austrian and his girlfriend were on Saturday evening (July 15) at a lake festival in town. Marius Gersbeck is also said to have been there. When the couple returned home at around 3 a.m., they are said to have met the Hertha goalkeeper and another man in front of the victim’s house – a kind of dormitory for seasonal workers, which is only around 60 meters from the team hotel.
“According to the victim, the suspect wanted to know where a stolen bike was,” said a police spokeswoman. The victim didn’t know anything about it, which led to a battle of words.
According to the investigation, Gersbeck then attacked the 22-year-old. The police spokeswoman: “The victim can’t remember anything after the punch.” As the girlfriend testified that night, the young man is said to have hit a mailbox and fallen unconscious to the ground.
Keeper Marius Gersbeck had just returned to Hertha from Karlsruher SC in the summer Photo: picture alliance/dpa
According to the police, another witness said that Gersbeck then kicked twice more – against the victim’s upper body.
When the girlfriend then wanted to call the police, Marius Gersbeck fled. “The witness was able to take a picture of the suspect,” the spokeswoman said. “So he could be identified promptly.”
During a police interrogation on the following Sunday morning, Gersbeck refused to testify, according to the police. On the Monday after the incident, Hertha’s goalkeeper was suspended – because of the police investigation and because he “had left the team hotel without permission”.
The suspension is still in force, even though Hertha President Kay Bernstein (42) is fighting for rehabilitation and Gersbeck has been allowed to train away from the team on the Olympic grounds for some time.
As BZ reported, he should pay the victim compensation, which settles the civil claims.
A police spokeswoman for the BZ: “The case will be handed over to the public prosecutor’s office regardless. There were recently no new findings from the investigation.” If it comes to trial, Marius Gersbeck faces up to three years in prison.