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Raiders drive car into Berlin Apple store

Burglars drove through the front door of Berlin's Apple store on Monday morning, helping themselves to goods inside. It is the seventh break-in of its kind in the capital this year.

Published: 23 December 2013 11:12 CET

Raiders drive car into Berlin Apple store

Photo: DPA

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The Apple store on Berlin's Kurfürstendamm shopping street only opened in May, and now faces extensive damages after burglars drove a stolen car through the front door, Bild newspaper reported.

Police confirmed on Monday that a Opel Corsa with several people inside hurtled into the building at 4.15am.They grabbed electronics and piled into a second car that had driven in behind the first. It is not yet clear how many items they took or the value of the goods.

The break-in mirrors one that happened at Berlin's Alexa shopping centre on December 9th. Burglars got away with around €100,000 worth of goods in a one-minute raid. A second, smaller scale, burglary happened again at an electronics shop in Zehlendorf on December 18^th.

The state's criminal investigations office has opened an investigation into the smash-and-grab raids – of which there have been seven in the past year. They are likely, police believe, being carried out by the same gang.

READ MORE: Berlin burglars steal 300 phones in one minute

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German man jailed for killing petrol station worker in mask row

The September 2021 murder in the western town of Idar-Oberstein shocked Germany, which saw a vocal anti-mask and anti-vaccine movement emerge in response to the government’s coronavirus restrictions.

The row started when 20-year-old student worker Alex W. asked the man to put on a mask inside the shop, as required in all German stores at the time.

After a brief argument, the man left.

The perpetrator – identified only as Mario N. – returned about an hour and a half later, this time wearing a mask. But as he bought his six-pack of beer to the till, he took off his mask and another argument ensued.

He then pulled out a revolver and shot the cashier in the head point-blank.

On Tuesday, the district court in Bad-Kreuznach convicted Mario N. of murder and unlawful possession of a firearm, and handed him a life sentence.

READ ALSO: Shock in Germany after cashier shot dead in Covid mask row

Under German law, people given a life sentence can usually seek parole after 15 years. His defence team had sought a sentence of manslaughter, rather than murder.

At the start of the trial, prosecutor Nicole Frohn told how Mario N. had felt increasingly angry about the measures imposed to curb the pandemic, seeing them as an infringement on his rights.

“Since he knew he couldn’t reach the politicians responsible, he decided to kill him (Alex W.),” she said.

Mario N. turned himself in to police the day after the shooting.

German has relaxed most of its coronavirus rules, although masks are still required in some settings, such as public transport.

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