The perpetrators of an attack on a money transporter in front of a bank branch in Berlin-Wilmersdorf are still on the run. As of Thursday morning, the police were initially unable to report any success in the search.
A money transporter was attacked on Wednesday at Uhlandstrasse 85 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf.
According to the police, the perpetrators escaped with their loot. They left four injured at the crime scene: a security guard and a security guard as well as two employees of a bank branch were slightly injured. At least two, possibly three or four suspects attacked the two employees and two employees of the branch with tear gas in front of the entrance portal, the police said in the afternoon.
The police moved to the crime scene in the western part of the city center with 90 forces. There was initially no trace of the perpetrators.
The background of the perpetrators and how much money they stole was initially unknown. The criminal police are investigating.
According to the police, license plates were mounted on the vehicle that were not registered on it. The police initially did not provide any further information about the car.
According to the information, the injured bank employees are two women aged 57. A security guard aged 39 and a security guard aged 49 were also injured. One of the bank employees suffered a broken arm, the other three injured tear gas injuries, they came to a clinic.
An eyewitness working in an office above the bank heard two shots. From the window, she saw a black car and two to three masked men, the woman at the scene said.
One held a pistol in his hand. At least one other was carrying some sort of cash box. Whether the shots were fired or fired is the subject of ongoing investigations, police said.
According to the woman, the crime happened very quickly. Your employee noted the number plate and called the police. The “Bild” newspaper published photos of the alleged getaway car, a black Audi.
Residents had previously reported to the Tagesspiegel that a money messenger had been robbed in front of a Postbank branch.
After the attack, around 90 police officers were deployed at the scene. Uhlandstrasse in the western part of the city was closed to vehicle traffic between Güntzelstrasse and Berliner Strasse, the police said on Twitter. Motorists were asked to drive around the area as far as possible.
The police operation in Uhlandstraße has now ended, the Berlin traffic information center announced on Twitter. The road is open again in both directions. The barriers have been removed and the sidewalk has been reopened.
The police are still looking for the robbers who drove away with their loot in the direction of Mecklenburgische Straße after the crime. The criminal police are investigating. Forensic technicians secured evidence and witnesses were questioned. A drone was also used on site.
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Police say the robbery happened around 11:15 a.m. A local resident spoke of “shots, blood and screams”. Three perpetrators escaped in a black Audi, a station wagon with Berlin license plates, in the direction of Mecklenburgische Strasse.
As the Tagesspiegel learned from police circles, the perpetrators stole cash boxes, sprayed tear gas and shot into the air with a pistol.
There were many witnesses of the fact: local residents, people from the surrounding shops, a pizza delivery boy who was just locking his bike, people from the house itself and from the surrounding restaurants. The witnesses were questioned and the forensics team arrived. A bus that was right at the scene of the crime was allowed to leave in the meantime.
The police went through the houses in the afternoon, looked for witnesses and took contact details to pass them on to the “leading” Kripo.
According to the police, Uhlandstrasse was blocked between Berliner Strasse and Güntzelstrasse. According to the BVG on Twitter, bus route 249 was diverted in both directions between the U Hohenzollernplatz and U Blissestraße/Uhlandstraße stops.
An eyewitness, who has an office with an open window directly above the post office, reported: “First I heard screams in front of the post office. I then saw a black Audi, which was pretty souped up, and the money transporter. Then shots were fired. It is Audi then drove off, with the driver and front passenger, a third came out of the post office and sat on the back seat. The car then hissed off with squeaking tires in the direction of Berliner Strasse. Then the police and ambulances came relatively quickly.”
In the early afternoon, the Berlin police asked for information from the population. Witnesses are asked to upload photos and videos to the police information portal, which can be found online at be.zettelportal.de.
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There have been a number of spectacular raids on money transporters in Berlin in recent years, and the pattern is often similar. Investigators mainly suspect criminal members of clans to be behind the crimes. Because of the pandemic and because of the energetic action of the state, the clans were increasingly in need of money.
In February 2022, at least two men attacked a money transporter in front of a Kaufland branch in Neukölln. They had intercepted an employee of a security company when he wanted to stow a suitcase of money in the van in front of the supermarket in the Britz district. The perpetrators threatened him with a pistol and sprayed tear gas in his face. The perpetrators grabbed the suitcase of money and fled on electric scooters. In mid-January, just behind the Berlin border, in Großziethen, a money transporter was attacked in front of a Rewe branch.
In December 2021, masked men armed with tear gas attacked a bank on Friedrichstrasse. In May 2021, a money messenger was attacked in a bank robbery in the anteroom of a branch in Neukölln.
