The incident occurred on the night of June 21–22 in Złotoryja. – A defibrillator was mounted on the wall of a petrol station building. It is a very simple device to operate, used to save human lives – explains Sgt. Maj. Dominika Kwakszys, press officer for the Złotoryja District Police Headquarters.
The defibrillator’s location was, of course, not accidental. There is heavy traffic in precisely this place, including both residents of the district and tourists or people merely passing through Złotoryja.
The utterly senseless theft was recorded by surveillance cameras. (The losses were estimated at more than PLN 8,000.) The footage shows the man opening the protective casing. The police spokesperson: – At first, he plays with the device, then pulls out the case and runs away toward the town centre.
The thief was detained. It turned out that he had no use for the equipment, and certainly not for saving lives. The 31-year-old stole it for no reason at all. He then removed the battery from the device and abandoned it somewhere in Złotoryja.
The suspect, who was charged with theft of property, told the officers that he had drunk too much. He now faces between three months and as many as five years in prison.
What happened to the defibrillator?
Police: – The defibrillator and the removed battery have been recovered. The equipment was found by local residents and handed over to Złotoryja police officers. It has already been returned to municipal office employees. However, it will not serve residents for some time yet. It must undergo servicing tests to determine whether it has been damaged.