The District Prosecutor’s Office in Legnica has filed an indictment in a case concerning an attempted break-in on November 13, 2024, at a currency exchange office located in one of the large grocery stores in Legnica. Investigators: – After careful preparation, the perpetrators intended to steal the money held there in various currencies, which, as it turned out, was considered “property of great value,” meaning an amount exceeding PLN 1,000,000.

The break-in failed because the building had been suitably reinforced where the currency exchange office was located and because the excavator used in the break-in broke down.

The defendant is 41-year-old repeat offender and Legnica resident Przemysław K. Prosecutor’s Office:

The aforementioned man will answer for aiding and abetting an attempted crime. He is also accused of possessing a significant quantity of drugs, in the form of methamphetamine weighing more than 470 grams in total, for the purpose of placing them on the market, as well as receiving stolen property—concealing items originating from two burglary thefts, with a total value exceeding PLN 52,000.

On November 7, 2024, for the purpose of committing the crime, the defendant rented a Peugeot 308 passenger car. At the same time, he also obtained an Atlas excavator, from which he removed the identification plates, although he kept photographs of them on his mobile phone.

Shortly before the incident, on November 12, 2024, at 9:13 p.m., Przemysław K. left the Peugeot at an agreed location. Shortly afterward, two other men drove away in the vehicle. They went to the place where the defendant had parked the excavator with its modified identification number.

At around 2:00 a.m., one of them drove the excavator to the parking lot near the grocery store where the currency exchange office was located. At the same time, an SUV arrived at the store and stopped nearby. The excavator then drove up to the wall of the shopping center, and its operator began striking the building’s wall with the bucket in order to create a breach.

After several unsuccessful attempts, the machine broke down. The operator got out of the excavator, sprayed fire-extinguishing powder inside the cab, then got into the SUV and drove away. The excavator remained in the parking lot. During the incident, its operator was wearing a high-visibility vest that Przemysław K. had placed in the trunk of the Peugeot on November 9, 2024; people directly involved in the incident drove away in that vehicle.

Investigators:

Significantly, on November 12, 2024, at approximately 4:20 p.m.—several hours before the attempted break-in—SPP police officers in Legnica discovered another vehicle used by the defendant. It was a VW Polo. The officers pursued it. At one point, the two unidentified men inside abandoned the vehicle and fled across the fields. The car had counterfeit license plates. Two demolition hammers and a money-counting machine were found in the trunk.

That was not the end of the matter. Several days after the attempted break-in, the defendant himself admitted to an acquaintance that he and another man had rented the excavator, which then took part in the attempt to break into the currency exchange office.

Prosecutor’s Office: – Additional circumstances indicate that the perpetrators, including the defendant Przemysław K., had been planning the break-in at the currency exchange office several months earlier. It was established that Przemysław K. had purchased, using his personal details, a Star truck with an excavator mounted on its chassis. It was discovered on May 9, 2024, at approximately 2:30 a.m., with its engine running in the parking lot by the same currency exchange office. Przemysław K. was found beside it and claimed that he had been waiting there at the request of a friend who had gone to call for roadside assistance. Thus, thanks to a routine police check, an attempted break-in was most likely thwarted at a very early stage.

After it was established that Przemysław K. had been involved in the crime, in early December 2024, police officers searching the defendant’s apartment found a shopping bag in the hallway containing a bag of methamphetamine weighing nearly half a kilogram. They also searched the basement rented by Przemysław K. Among other things, they found Honda car parts worth PLN 2,000 in total, originating from a burglary at storage facilities on al. Rzeczypospolitej in Legnica, as well as specialist electronic equipment worth PLN 50,000, originating from a burglary of a car on June 17, 2024, in Kawice.

Przemysław K., who was detained on December 3, 2024, was charged and remanded in custody. He did not admit to the alleged acts. Regarding possession of the drugs, he stated that the psychotropic substance belonged to an acquaintance who had left it in his apartment. He said that, after realizing it was drugs, he drove around with them for some time, expecting the acquaintance to come back for them. However, he did not. The prosecutor did not believe his explanations.

The Prosecutor’s Office summarizes:

Przemysław K. had previously been convicted by a cumulative judgment of the District Court in Legnica in April 2021 and sentenced to two years and three months in prison for, among other offenses, burglary and robbery. He was released from prison in August 2021.

For the alleged acts, he faces a sentence of between 3 and 20 years in prison. Aiding and abetting an attempted burglary involving property of great value is a felony punishable by the aforementioned sentence. Possession of a significant quantity of narcotic drugs for the purpose of placing them on the market is punishable by 1 to 10 years in prison and a monetary payment. Receiving stolen property is punishable by 3 months to 5 years in prison. In the case of repeat offenders, the penalty is increased by half. However, the court will impose a sentence within the range of 3 to 20 years in prison, as for the most severely punishable offense.

The case will be heard by a court.

We reported on the entire story in December last year in the article They Tried to Break into a Currency Exchange Office in a Store with an Excavator.