The incident took place in one of the shops in Zgorzelec. Community police officers were urgently sent to the scene after receiving a report that the perpetrator of a theft had been apprehended.
According to the officers’ findings, the man put two bottles of alcohol and a beverage into a backpack, then tried to leave the shop without paying for the goods. During the incident, one of the bottles allegedly broke, but the suspect still attempted to leave the scene.
The situation escalated when the security guard tried to detain the man. The 53-year-old behaved aggressively. A struggle broke out, during which he allegedly knocked the guard down. He also threatened to take the guard’s life.
Ultimately, thanks to the security guard’s decisive response, the perpetrator was apprehended and handed over to the patrol that arrived at the scene. Police detained the 53-year-old and took him to the Zgorzelec police station.
After analysing the collected evidence, the man was charged. According to police, he will face charges of robbery theft and criminal threats.
Investigators also established that the detainee had previously been convicted of similar offences and had served a prison sentence. This means that he will be tried as a repeat offender, which may affect the length of any potential sentence.
Under the applicable regulations, robbery theft is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Making criminal threats, in turn, is punishable by up to 3 years’ imprisonment.