The first break-in took place on December 1, 2018, at a market in Bolesławiec. Using a vehicle, the perpetrators rammed the store’s doors and entered its vestibule, where an ATM stood. They were unable to steal anything, however, because of the reaction of the store employees and the shopping carts standing there, which blocked access to the machine.

Another break-in took place on December 12, 2018, in Nowogrodziec, in Bolesławiec County. More than half a million zlotys were stolen. The perpetrators attached straps to a farm tractor and secured them to the ATM, then tore the machine from its foundations and took it away in another vehicle.

The perpetrators made another attempt on March 11, 2019, in Bolesławiec, when a 39-year-old man drove a farm tractor up to an ATM, attached tow straps to the ATM and the vehicle, and attempted to tear the machine from its foundations. The attempt failed because the straps used by the suspect broke. The ATM was nevertheless damaged. The police then successfully pursued one of the perpetrators, who was traveling on the tractor.

Subsequent findings by the District Prosecutor’s Office in Bolesławiec and the Police led to the arrest of the remaining perpetrators. The men were charged with breaking into and attempting to steal, following a break-in, from three ATMs containing money.

It was also established that they had committed other offenses, including receiving the tractor used in the break-ins, which had been stolen, damaging another vehicle, possessing psychotropic substances, and possessing weapons and ammunition.

At the time of his arrest by the Police, one of the perpetrators was armed with a loaded and cocked pistol ready to fire, ammunition for the weapon, assault grenades, incapacitating gas, and a knife.

Another defendant was additionally charged with manufacturing significant quantities of psychotropic substances. A production line for manufacturing methamphetamine, as well as more than 100 grams of the finished substance, was found during a search of his property.

At the request of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Bolesławiec, three defendants were placed in pretrial detention; one is subject to police supervision and a ban on leaving the country.

The offenses committed by the defendants are punishable by imprisonment ranging from one to 10 years.

Krzysztof M., who was also charged with manufacturing significant quantities of psychotropic substances, faces a prison sentence of between three and 15 years.

The defendants are residents of Bolesławiec County and are between 26 and 39 years old.

Three of them had previously been convicted, including for offenses against property. One of the defendants had already served a prison sentence imposed for an offense committed in Austria and is therefore currently being tried as a recidivist.