High damage: Alper Yildirim, managing director of Alp Automobile, shows the damaged BMW 530d. The thieves removed both xenon headlights and smashed the car’s side window.
© Kristina groom
Maintal – When Alper Yildirim goes to work in the morning, he almost always has a queasy feeling. “I actually expect something to happen every day,” says the managing director of Alp Automobile.
Last year, the 36-year-old opened the small car dealership in Bischofsheim’s Am Kreuzstein industrial park. But the dream of self-employment is slowly turning into a nightmare: Alper Yildirim has been the victim of burglars six times since then, four times this year alone. The site is between the motorway entrance and exit, perfect escape routes for the perpetrators. The last time the thieves struck was on the night of October 14th to 15th. “They tore out the cameras, pried open the window and took everything that could be turned into money,” says Yildirim and shows cell phone photos of his devastated office.
The perpetrators not only steal expensive branded tools, they also take a fully automatic coffee machine, television and money counting machine with them. In a BMW 530d that is parked in the car dealer’s yard, the strangers break in the right side window and remove the xenon headlights. Total damage from this break-in alone: at least 8,000 euros.
Alper Yildirim will remain seated on the damage this time as well. Because the car dealer cannot afford theft insurance. The conditions that he would have to meet are too high, the monthly contributions too high. The 36-year-old is desperate. “My existence depends on this shop. I’ve worked for a long time. And these criminals destroy everything for me. “
Alper Yildirim is not alone with his frustration. The two neighboring companies are also repeatedly victims of burglars. “It’s just not fun anymore,” says Besart Rushiti. When the burglary broke in in mid-October, the thieves only took a few tools with them. Last year the strangers removed the catalytic converters on five cars. “In order to be able to resell the cars, I had to buy new catalytic converters. At up to 700 euros each, that was pretty bitter, ”said the car dealer. It is even worse for a tenant who does not want to be named.
The perpetrators steal the catalytic converters from ten cars that the hobby mechanic has parked on the site. The reason is the expensive precious metals, which are mainly used in older models. Scrap dealers pay up to 800 euros per piece, depending on the size and the associated amount of precious metal. Besart Rushiti had cameras installed in the meantime, but the thieves destroy them. He has not hung new ones since then. “It doesn’t do any good,” he says.
Aliasghar Javad in front of his workshop. “It’s a disaster,” says the 66-year-old.
© Kristina groom
–
A few meters away, Aliasghar Javad runs his garage. The 66-year-old is improving his pension with the job. But he, too, constantly complains about new burglaries. “In the last few months alone, they have joined me three times. It’s a catastrophe, ”he says, pointing to the window, which has been barely closed with cardboard. The burglars had hit it on their last tour of theft, stealing the coffee machine, an expensive flashlight and the 600 euro diagnostic device.
“I earn a few euros here and get stolen all the time. They even took the five bottles of wine that a customer gave me as a present, ”says Javad. In the meantime, he doesn’t even dare to park his customers’ cars on the workshop premises. “I prefer to park the cars on the street. It’s just not safe here. “
Alper Yildirim is fed up. He feels abandoned by the police. “They take the ad and after two weeks the letter comes that the proceedings have been discontinued,” says the car dealer. The officers wouldn’t even take fingerprints. “It is always said that the burglars wore gloves. The police don’t bother at all. We don’t feel that we are being taken seriously ”.
Aliasghar Javad is also disappointed. “We believe that it is always the same perpetrators. The police could at least investigate, ”said the 66-year-old. Those affected demand that the police patrol more often. “They should get out of the car, too, to see if everything is going well. That is the minimum, ”says Alper Yildirim.
When asked by our newspaper, the police confirmed that there had been several break-ins on the Am Kreuzstein site. “The local police are sensitized. The colleagues are urged to patrol the area more, “says Andrea Ackermann, spokeswoman for the police headquarters in Southeast Hesse. How often and in what form the site is patrolled is not disclosed for tactical reasons.
Ackermann also advises the dealers concerned to contact the police advice center in Offenbach. “The colleagues also come on site and give tips on safety measures,” says Ackermann. In order to make things difficult for the burglars, however, the police are also dependent on the help of the citizens. “Whether passer-by or deliverer, anyone who observes something suspicious should call the police immediately.”
Alper Yildirim does not want to rely on that. He has installed new infrared cameras that trigger when there is movement and send a message directly to the cell phone. He also wants to get a watch dog. “I no longer trust the police. What else can I do? “
From Kristina Groom
–
