The limitation period initially runs until July 24. The reason for the arrest is the risk of committing a crime, said spokeswoman Birgit Borns. The public prosecutor’s office is investigating for serious coercion, serious damage to property and endangering physical safety.
Perpetrator was known to the authorities
The accused had already caused a police operation in 2022 in connection with a religious community facility. Erich Habitzl, spokesman for the Wiener Neustadt public prosecutor’s office, confirmed corresponding media reports that it was regarding coercion and damage to property. Apparently, the Romanian citizen is said to have attacked a person with a stick at the time.
On Monday, the 32-year-old caused immense damage to the Pentecostal Church with the twelve-ton vehicle. The accused is said to have driven backwards into the building in several attacks. The Romanian, who lives in Vienna, was subsequently arrested without resistance.
“God will strike you”
A priest and two other people were inside the church at the time of the attack, none of whom were injured. “We immediately thought it was an attack,” said Pastor Ruben Avram in interviews with ORF Lower Austria and the “Kurier” newspaper. The accused is not known to the Romanian-speaking Pentecostal Church, Avram stressed in an interview with Kathpress: “The man is neither a member of the congregation nor has he taken part in our congregational life.” He is an “outsider who is already known for these and similar crimes.” When he was arrested, the 32-year-old shouted “God will strike you,” said Avram.
Image: (APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER)
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Image: (APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER)
According to Kathpress and according to current knowledge, the accused was not a member of any Austrian Pentecostal church. “However, there have been similar negative situations in other churches where he caused trouble. In one case, the police also issued a ban on him,” Pastor Avram was quoted as saying.
On the way to the church, the 32-year-old Romanian was involved in five traffic accidents with his truck. Four of them caused property damage, and in one incident a pedestrian was hit and slightly injured, according to the police. The attack itself also damaged two cars in the vicinity of the Pentecostal church.
The accused, who has been living in Austria since 2020, basically confessed during an initial interrogation. He stated that his motive was that the church had destroyed his life. The Pentecostal Church also assumes that this was an act of revenge. The Romanian is said to have attracted attention on the site in Brunn a few weeks ago and to have torn up a Bible.
The exact extent of the damage to the building might not be determined on Wednesday. The church is currently closed to church services and community activities. However, experts and structural engineers have currently ruled out any risk of collapse, Avram reported to Kathpress.
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