Three men who are said to have been involved in the theft of construction machinery made confessions at the start of the trial at the Berlin district court. The suspects, aged 24 to 27, are said to have been members of a gang blamed for a series of burglaries between January and October 2021. The crimes were planned and carried out with several accomplices, a 27-year-old said on Wednesday.
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According to investigations, two of the accused were involved when a mini excavator worth around 40,000 euros was stolen in Berlin-Hohenschönhausen in September 2021. According to the prosecutor, three men climbed over a two-meter-high fence onto a company property while two accomplices secured the area and gave instructions.
The third accused is said to have supported the group in May 2021 when a trailer with a compressor worth around 20,000 euros was stolen in the Heiligensee district. Police officers could have thwarted a third break-in.
A 24-year-old defendant explained through his defense attorney that he had come to Germany from his Serbian homeland “actually for work”. He also found a job but was not paid by the employer. Because he needed money, he participated in a theft.
