Coburg (dpa / lby) - After he had set fire to Mayor Dominik Sauerteig's (SPD) electric company car and another vehicle in front of Coburg's town hall, the public prosecutor's office has applied for security proceedings against the alleged arsonist. This was announced by the authority in Coburg on Thursday. The 55-year-old man has been in a closed psychiatric ward since August.

The man known to the police had been repeatedly noticed in connection with criminal offenses for years. The public prosecutor's office assumes property damage of 300,000 euros from the alleged arson, in which both vehicles and buildings were affected.

An application for a security procedure - in contrast to a conventional criminal procedure - is made if the suspect has significant health impairments, but the person could pose a danger to the general public, as the public prosecutor announced on Thursday in Coburg. In the case of a conviction in the security procedure, there could be accommodation in a psychiatric hospital.