Bansin (dpa / mv) - On the island of Usedom, a hotel security guard surprised a bicycle thief and was attacked by him. As a police spokesman said on Tuesday, the incident happened at night at a hotel in Bansin (West Pomerania-Greifswald). The security guard saw the perpetrator trying to cut open the lock just after midnight. When he confronted the man, he attacked him with bolt cutters. The security guard dodged the blow and was hit in the arm. After using animal repellent spray, the perpetrator ran to an accomplice and fled in a white pickup truck.
The first search by the police was unsuccessful, but the search is still ongoing. It is determined because of attempted robbery theft. Because of the many cycling holidaymakers, Usedom has been a stronghold for the theft of high-quality e-bikes in the north-east for years.
According to the police, professional gangs from Eastern Europe are often behind this. In 2021, e-bikes worth 420,000 euros were stolen on the Baltic Sea island alone. That corresponded to about a third of the damage of all stolen electric bikes in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Recently there had been several such cases in the seaside resorts around Bansin and Heringsdorf.
