Early Friday morning, a drunk man attempted to ride a stolen child’s bicycle onto the Nordbrücke in Vienna-Floridsdorf, which leads to the Donauuferautobahn (A22). According to a police spokeswoman, the 38-year-old became exhausted on the ramp near Shopping City Nord and lay down to sleep on the grass beside the roadway. A witness spotted him and alerted police around 7:00 a.m.

Officers from the Ziegelofenweg station woke the Polish national, who was uninjured but heavily intoxicated with a blood-alcohol level of 2.74 ‰. He claimed to have arrived on the ramp between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m., but could not recall why he was there or where he had stolen the bicycle. Emergency services transported him to hospital, and the bike was seized by police.

The 38-year-old had been expelled from Austria a few days earlier. Known for property offences, he is now facing charges for theft, traffic violations, and breaches of the Aliens Police Act.