Selfie leads to arrest: burglar caught in Vienna!

Selfie leads to arrest: burglar caught in Vienna!

On June 12, 2025, there was an arrest in the Simmering district of Vienna that was due to a rather unusual turn of events in a burglary. A 40-year-old Slovak citizen is suspected of breaking into an office on June 6th. According to information from vienna.at The perpetrator entered the office through an open window and stole a cell phone.

The crucial clue came when the suspect took a selfie with the stolen cell phone. Through the automatic synchronization function, this image was uploaded to the data platform, after which the owner of the phone was given access to the photo. The owner in turn showed the picture to his brother-in-law, who recognized the man in the supermarket and called the police.

Suspect arrested

The police were eventually able to arrest the suspect. During the search, the officers found five ATM cards, which strengthened the suspicion of further theft. However, the stolen cell phone has not yet been recovered. During questioning, the 40-year-old did not confess. The Vienna public prosecutor's office ordered a release to appear pending further investigations into the case.

Another incident in Vienna-Favoriten illustrates the ongoing problems with break-ins in the capital. There, a 54-year-old man overpowered a burglar who had broken into his apartment. The 41-year-old Hungarian citizen had entered the apartment through an open balcony door and tried to escape through it when he was discovered by the owner of the apartment. Loud courier The man who owned the apartment held the burglar until the police arrived, where suspected stolen property was found during a search. However, this burglar did not confess either.

Insights into crime statistics

The incidents described here are part of a larger problem that does not only affect Vienna. Around 5.63 million crimes were recorded in Germany in 2022, including an alarming number of thefts. In the same year there were 1.78 million thefts recorded by the police, which represents an increase compared to the previous year. The most common types of theft involved shoplifting, bicycle theft and theft from and from motor vehicles. Although residential burglaries saw an increase between 2006 and 2015, they declined from 2016 to 2021 before increasing again in 2022, according to Statista reported.

Whether using modern technologies or traditional crime-fighting methods, the police continue to face a variety of challenges and try to counteract the growing crime in urban areas.