“You have to stay positive. Something like that can happen to you every day,” says jeweler Christof Leschanz. The entrepreneur does not let his good mood take away from him. And that despite the fact that his jewelry store “Leeb & Leschanz” in Villach was once more the target of burglars on Saturday night.
At around 3:15 a.m., two perpetrators broke open the front door with a tool and smashed several glass showcases. From this they stole numerous Breitling, Omega, Tag Heuer and Edox watches as well as pearls and jewellery. Rolex timepieces, on the other hand, left them untouched. “I can’t explain to myself why they didn’t take them with them,” Leschanz is at a loss. Even if the total amount of the damage has to be clarified first, the owner assumes more than 100,000 euros.
pursued
A neighbor became aware of the audible alarm, checked in and saw two people flee the jewelry store. They each had a plastic bag and an iron bar in their hands. Together with a second witness, the man took up the pursuit and at the same time alerted the police. However, the perpetrators were too quick – the pursuers lost sight of them. “Nevertheless, I am very grateful to the neighbor. With his civil courage, he put the perpetrators to flight and thus prevented worse things from happening,” says Leschanz. There were no injuries in the incident. It is important for the jeweler to emphasize that the stolen goods are exclusively commercial goods. “We also have a lot of third-party storage in our shop. But they are not affected.” The investigations to clarify the burglary were taken over by the operative criminal service in the city police command in Villach.
All patrols from the city of Villach and Villach-Land, the standby unit, a service dog patrol and the police helicopter “Libelle-FLIR” were involved throughout the day in the immediately initiated alarm search. According to the police, the perpetrators might not be caught at the time of going to press.
Jumped in Drau
What was found, however, was a plastic bag with part of the loot, apparently left behind. The rumor that one of the perpetrators jumped into the Drau was denied by city police commander Erich Londer.
Monitors in the shop window
The jeweler spent hours cleaning up. Business will continue as usual on Monday. As always following a burglary, because: “On average, this has happened every seven to eight years since 1984.” For some time now he has therefore been considering replacing the goods on display in the shop window with monitors in order to be better protected once morest burglary. “Besides, the screens light up so beautifully,” he says, laughing.
