Drink-driving, night-time construction work and false reports - the city police's operations in December

In December, citizens reported around 23 disturbances of the peace per week in restaurants, private homes and public places. In the last ten days of December, the number of disturbances rose to 35, probably due to the public holidays.

In the second week of December, the regional police had to be called out to a disturbance in a bar. When a patrol arrived, two people fled to the toilet and a third person stood in their way. The patrol also noticed a fourth person fleeing from the gambling machines in another room. All four were apparently underage. During a search, the patrol found drug paraphernalia on the young people, and a pepper gun and suspected narcotics were also found in the bar. Due to several serious business violations, the patrol closed and sealed the place. The youths were handed over to the state police.

The city police are regularly called out to people who appear helpless. In December, there were between four and 16 helpless people. These included sick or confused people who needed medical assistance.

The traffic police carried out speed checks at up to 50 different locations each week and initiated between 51 and 275 proceedings for exceeding the speed limit.

There were a particularly high number of parking tickets in the first week of December, with 2,038. Up to 28 vehicles were towed away each week due to significant traffic obstructions. In the second week of December, the city police also had six trailers towed away that had been parked in the traffic area for more than 14 days.

In December, 139 vehicles were registered for de-stamping at the Offenbach registration office. This usually concerns vehicles for which the insurance or tax has not been paid or which are no longer roadworthy due to significant defects.

There were several cases of drink-driving in December. In the very first week, a vehicle drove towards a patrol in the Waldstraße area. When the patrol stopped the car and approached the driver, he failed to open the right window. The man smelled of alcohol and staggered considerably after getting out of the car. As the breath alcohol test revealed 1.44 per mille, the man was handed over to the state police.

Another driver attracted attention by tailgating and flashing his lights, eventually overtaking at excessive speed. A patrol stopped him, but the driver refused to be checked and asked for the state police. They determined a breath alcohol level of 1.04 per mille. The driver was charged with driving under the influence and drink-driving.

In the second week of December, a car was noticed driving in serpentine lines. A check revealed that the car had no insurance cover and the female passenger had an expired visa. The state police were called in to clarify the residence permit and the vehicle was forcibly deregistered due to the lack of insurance.

During a traffic accident, which was secured by a patrol, the suspected perpetrator of the accident was found to be smelling of alcohol. A breath alcohol test revealed 1.85 per mille and the case was handed over to the state police.

At a reported vehicle that had been parked in a driveway for hours with the engine running, a patrol found a woman in the vehicle who appeared to be lifeless. The patrol woke the woman, who appeared confused and had narcotics on her lap. She allegedly did not know why she had been parked there all morning. She stated that she had consumed narcotics and did not have a driver's license. She also said that the car belonged to a customer of her friend who owned a garage. The patrol informed the vehicle owner, who was surprised at the whereabouts of his vehicle. The patrol took the vehicle keys from the woman and initiated appropriate proceedings.

In the last week of December, a patrol noticed a car that ran the stop line at a red light. The driver took a breath alcohol test, the value was 0.81 per mille. A later measurement with a calibrated breathalyzer at the state police station showed a value of 0.460 mg/l. The driver was charged. The driver was reported to the police.

In the area of Obermühlstraße / Seligenstädter Straße, a man drove back and forth in a vehicle for a long time. During the conversation between a patrol officer and the local informants, the vehicle approached again. There were beer cans lying around in the car. The driver reacted with extreme delay to the patrol's approach and swayed heavily when getting out of the car. He did not want to take a breath test, but stated of his own accord that the vehicle was stolen. The state police were then called in.

Considerable noise was caused by night-time construction work in the Offenbach Ost industrial estate. The city police encountered several people with concrete smoothing machines in a warehouse. They were unable to produce a permit for night-time construction work. As they were working on fresh screed, they were initially allowed to continue the work in order to prevent damage to property. The city police informed the building authority and customs.

In the third week of December, the fire department control center requested a patrol for support after receiving several false reports. A patrol drove to the detector's apartment, but no one responded to the knocking and ringing. A resident only opened the door after being hit with a door ram, which was taken along to force the door open. Inside the apartment, the patrol found a man lying in a pool of blood with his adult daughter crying on top of him. Questioning turned out to be difficult, and the situation only became clear after a conversation with the family's legal guardian. The man had probably fallen because he had had too much to drink. He was taken to hospital in an ambulance. The daughter, who had already attracted attention several times in the past due to a mental illness, attacked her mother aggressively. As she was an acute danger to others, she was admitted to a psychiatric facility.

In the same week, an explosion was reported at a bar in Berliner Straße. An unknown person had thrown an explosive device at the window panes, causing a flashover. A patrol rushed to the bar and cordoned off the area. State police forces arrived at a later time and took over the investigation.

A man did not want to have his car, which was parked illegally in a car-sharing parking lot, towed away. The driver of the towing service called the municipal police. As the driver was unable to pay the towing costs or provide a registration address in Germany, the offending vehicle was removed.

In the last week of December, an unusual incident occurred: a car was blocking the access road to the city police station when a patrol got into their vehicle. The patrol asked some men standing around the vehicle to remove it. They did so. While maneuvering the patrol car, the patrol saw a youth standing at the bus stop near the side entrance to the city police station, crying. He had obviously been attacked with an irritant. The boy was escorted to the city police station, a search of the area was immediately initiated and the state police and emergency services were called. A review of the video surveillance system revealed that the fugitives were the same people who had been at the car previously. The vehicle was found a few hours later outside a club in Berliner Straße. It was a rental car. The driver stated that he had nothing to do with the crime and had even tried to detain one of the passengers. However, the video footage showed that the driver drove away after the crime without giving the victim first aid or notifying the patrol that was waiting directly behind him. Reports were drawn up for the state police.

Two city police officers were injured during an operation involving a dispute in an apartment. The patrol encountered a man at the scene who admitted to arguing with his girlfriend. He said that she had a mental illness and that she was a danger to herself or others. While the patrol was taking down a description of the person, the woman returned and was visibly upset. She did not want to identify herself and tried to get into the apartment. As she was shouting loudly, the patrol asked her to calm down. She then approached the police and hit a police officer on the back of the head with her fist, in which she was holding a key. The officer suffered a bleeding injury to the back of his head. In an attempt to restrain the woman, she lashed out and hit the second colleague in the knee and stomach area. The state police finally took the woman to the police station.

The municipal police also had to carry out various residence investigations in November. This primarily involved checking cohabiting couples and cases in which urgent official mail could not be delivered due to missing letterboxes or doorbells.