Vienna police on Thursday arrested two suspected serial robbers in the Favoriten district, believed to be responsible for seven completed and one attempted robbery of gas station shops and tobacconists. In each case, one of the two dark-clothed masked men stood lookout at the entrance while his accomplice carried out the actual crime. He always threatened the employees with a pistol—which has now been revealed to be a realistic-looking blank-firing gun.
In this way, he forced them to hand over cash. The robberies had taken place since July in various districts. The perpetrators did not make much money; the total damage amounts to a low four-digit sum. Since it quickly became clear to investigators that they were dealing with serial offenders, the cases were consolidated and investigated centrally by the Criminal Investigation Service of the Vienna State Criminal Office.
Suspects not confessing
Through “intensive police investigations,” the two suspects—a 19-year-old whose nationality initially remained unclear, and a 20-year-old Russian citizen—were identified. They were ultimately caught in Favoriten while preparing for another tobacconist robbery and were arrested with the assistance of the Special Operations Directorate.
Police found a blank-firing pistol, a stun gun, disguises, a container for the stolen goods, cash, and mobile phones in their possession.
The two young men made no statements regarding the allegations, leaving the motive unclear for the time being.
