Take precautions, especially around the holidays, with home break-ins on the rise
GENEVA / LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The number of dusk break-ins around Lausanne and along the La Côte stretch more than doubled from 1 October to 12 December, compared to 2010, say Vaud police, pointing in particular to organized groups of North African and Balkans origins who have been operating in the area.
Geneva police also cite a steady increase in recent years in the number of break-ins but also simple burglaries and last week they began distributing reminders to all homeowners in the canton of precautions to observe.
There were 530 home break-ins in Vaud, compared to 225 a year earlier, during the same period. The increase for the first three months of 2011 compared to 2010 was only 10 percent, say police.
Take precautions: checklist
The number of home burglaries rises every winter when the nights are longer but given this year’s sharp increase the police are urging people to remember to take preventive measures, particularly with the holidays coming.
SION, SWITZERLAND – A massive manhunt is on for two masked men who tried to first rob one bank in canton Valais, then succeeded in robbing a second minutes later. The first attempt occurred in Réchy at 16:40, when a man robbed, at gunpoint a client of the Banque Cantonale du Valais, without getting the bank’s cash. He then fled in a dark-coloured Mercedes station wagon (Fr: break) with an accompllice.
The man was dressed in black, 175cm and normal weight.
Two hours later, at 18:10, two men waited for an employee of the same bank, Banque Cantonale du Valais, to leave the secured area of the bank’s branch in Savièse, then forced the employee at gunpoint to give them the contents of the safe. They fled with what police describe as a “substantial” amount of cash.
Police are asking anyone with information, in particular about the movements of a blue Honda Transalp with Valais plates, to phone them at +41 27 606 5656.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A high speed chase on the A1 autoroute from Gland to Morges at 01:00 Monday 31 October resulted in the arrest of four men from Lyons, France. The group was breaking and entering a shop in Rolle when police were contacted via the 117 number. Several police and highway patrol units were set up and the car, with French plates, was spotted in Gland, heading for the autoroute.
The car was chased by police at speeds up to 150 kph, with the car ignoring police warnings to stop and the driver swerving several times to prevent the police from overtaking. At the Morges Est A1 exit two patrol cars were set up to block their path and the four were caught. The men have admitted to the facts in the case, say police.
Rolle has recently been the site of other robberies, notably jewelry shops.
Nyon train station, scene of attempted robbery
NYON, SWITZERLAND – Police nabbed three thieves from Lyons, France, ages 17, 27 and 28, who were caught in the act of trying to break into a safe at the Nyon train station at 03:00 Thursday morning 27 October, Vaud police announced Monday. A shot was fired accidentally in the fight between authorities and the would-be robbers, but no one was injured.
A train station employer was putting away papers when she heard a noise and spotted the trio trying to break into the area where she worked. She slipped out a back door and alerted police.
Municipal police arrived quickly and spotted one of the three, masked and carrying a lockpick, trying to leave. The police and suspect tangled and an accomplice came to the aid of the first man. At that point one of the two police offcers pulled out a gun and issued a warning. The first suspect then hit the officer in the head with a metal bar and one of the men tried to grab the police officer’s weapon, accidentally firing it in the process.
The other officer came to his colleague’s rescue, after having arrested the third suspect, and the remaining two were brought under control as police reinforcements arrived.
All three are known to the police in France, where they stole the car they were driving. Vaud police say Swiss authorities are working with their French counterparts to determine the extent of the illegal activities of the men.
The police officer who was hit in the head was hospitalized for treatment and released during the morning.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Thieves in Geneva are taking advantage of summer weather to break into apartments, often on lower floors of buildings, by forcing open shutters that are only partially closed to allow in cooler air during the night.
Police suggest that people close their shutters completely, especially the kind that you lower, to discourage robbers who operate while people are sleeping.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Two groups of youths were pulled in by police, one in Vaud, the other in canton Valais, in connection with separate series of robberies and vandalism. Police in Valais are also warning of a rise in house break-ins, and they are asking people to be vigilant about locking their homes and keeping an eye out for suspicious individuals on their property.
Lutry, Pully boats vandalized by group
Seven young men, six of them minors, were taken in for questioning Saturday 14 May in Lausanne in connection with a series of vandalism in and around the ports of Lutry and Pully, the nights of 10-11 and 12-13 May. Several boats were damaged, with some of them broken into and goods stolen. One of the youths was caught by police after a boat owner surprised him, with his friends, breaking into the man’s boat. The boy jumped into the water to escape but was caught by police, who had been called to the scene.
Police in Lausanne the same night picked up another youth on a stolen scooter. The two were questioned about a number of thefts, including several stolen bicycles, and police were able to identify the larger group. Among the crimes they are accused of: cutting the cable of a professional fisherman’s boat, which later sank. The group of 15 to 18-year-olds has been turned over to juvenile court authorities.
Police in canton Valais also pulled in a group, four Roms who are part of a Roms community currently based in Grenoble, France, ages 18-23, after a series of 20 robberies in the first half of May. The four were caught in possession of goods and money that had been reported stolen. In some cases homes that were left unlocked had been entered clandestinely. The thieves pretended to be deaf and mute and asking for charitable donations, in other cases where they were surprised by the homeowners.
Four tips from the Valais police:
- call 117 if you find people on your property under suspicious pretexts
- never let anyone you don’t know into your home
- don’t keep large sums of money in your home
- lock your home if you’re going out, even for a short time.
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A group of what police are calling highly professional thieves stole four diamonds from a stand at the Basel watch and jewelry fair Wednesday 30 March.
The gang of possibly five got away despite the alert being raised quickly and the hall being sealed off within minutes to prevent them from leaving.
The diamonds belonged to an Israeli dealer who was distracted by three would-be clients while two others broke into the display case, which they appear to have checked out in advance, according to a statement by the Basel public attorney.
Fingerprints have been lifted by investigators and video surveillance footage is being examined.
The value of the jewels is in the millions, but was not specified. Baselworld has attracted thieves in the past: one was caught in 2009 attempting to steal CHF13 million in jewels and he is now serving a three-year prison term.
TSR reports that one exhibitor had a a case of his goods stolen from a trolley at Zurich airport last week.
Baselworld closes today, 31 March.
Links to other sites: AFP, TSR (Fr)
The Nyon train station, where armed robbers burst into the office shortly before 06:00 Friday
Lausanne and Nyon, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Vaud, Nyon and other regional police have a manhunt underway for two men who robbed the Nyon train station office early Friday morning, 11 March.
They were alerted by someone who phoned in, saying that a masked man, carrying a gun, had gone into the station. Despite the quick alert police were unable to find the armed robbers immediately.
A black Porsche with Valais license plates drew up in front of the Nyon station shortly before 06:00 this morning and two armed men jumped out and burst into the station reception hall.
The men demanded that a person who was cleaning the area let them into the station office, but not getting a quick response, they broke the glass of the office with a revolver.
The CFF train station agent, spotting the men, tried to hide behind a desk but was seen and the masked men demanded that the agent open the safe. They took an unnamed amount of money and fled in the Porsche.
The two men’s description: they spoke with a French accent, were about 175-180 cm, were dressed in black, and each wore a wig, a false beard and a scarf over his face.
The cleaning person and the station agent were unharmed but badly shocked, say police.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the police by telephone at 021 644 4444 or to go to the nearest police station.
Wave of break-ins where thieves remove lock cylinders
Thieves are particularly fond of removing locks in Nyon, perferably around dawn in winter
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Nyon has been a particularly popular target for thieves who break into homes by removing the door lock cylinders, say Vaud police, who warn residents of an increase in the number of burglaries since October.
Close to 100 burglaries have been recorded in most weeks, nearly double the figures for earlier in the year.
The Greater Lausanne area has seen a significant rise in break-ins, say police, with thieves striking mainly at dawn, forcing their way in through windows and glass doors but also by lifting door lock cylinders. Nyon is the real centre for the latter, with 28 of the 30 reported cases recently occurring in or around the town.
Police suggest taking the following protective measures:
- simulate a presence in your home by using timed lighting
- install outside lighting that automatically detects bodies
- add a tamper-proof cover to the visible part of the lock cylinder
- keep all building entrances locked
- empty and lock all vehicles
- hide away any valuables and don’t leave anything of value in the entryway, or in jacket and coat pockets.
Bouches-du-Rhône, France (GenevaLunch) - The value of their theft has risen from CHF8 million to CHF21m in the six years since a group of men stole 668 kg of gold, thanks to the soaring gld market, according to TSR. The haul has never been found. The five men, from Corsica, are accused of stealing the gold from the head offices of Metalor in Marin, canton Neuchatel, in January 2004. The prosecutor in the French court is asking for sentences ranging from seven to 22 years, with 18-20 years for the man behind the scheme and 22 years for another who is a repeat offender.
Truck veers off A9 near Martigny, car flips off A1 in rush hour near Rolle
Spectacular police chase for thieves of BMW, 40 cigarette cartons on A9
Rainbow next to the A9: police caution that drivers need to remember to slow down when dry weather is followed by showers
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – “Drivers need to remember to leave more distance and to reduce their speed when the roads are wet,” cautions Vaud police spokesman Philippe Jaten, in the wake of a series of accidents in the region this week. “And in particular to make sure their seat belts are fastened,” he adds. Jaten says it is difficult to say, looking at a short time, if the number of accidents is higher, but “we’ve seen some spectacular ones.”
Three serious accidents occurred in 36 hours on the A9, in Vaud and Valais, the most recent at 14:30 Tuesday at Charrat near Martigny. A truck veered off the road for unknown reasons, as the driver headed from Sion to Martigny. He had to be cut from his vehicle and was taken to hospital in Sion. Traffic was reduced to two lanes after the accident.
Slow down, leave space on rainy roads
Vaud’s rain-pelted roads this morning likely played a role in a one-car accident on the A1 autoroute at rush hour, between Aubonne and Rolle, heading towards Geneva.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Customs guards in Geneva near the border caught three thieves red-handed in the early hours of Friday, just after they took a safe and several laptops from the World Health Organization. The three are professionals, known to police, but according to the Tribune de Geneve, they were caught in a car stolen a year earlier, at a roadblock in Chêne-Bougeries, where police were surprised to discover the extent of the robbers’ haul. The customs office and Geneva police are investigating the men’s records and the theft itself.
A group of thieves tunneled their way into an underground vault at Credit Lyonnais in Paris Saturday night 27 March and took off with an unknown amount after nine hours of work, police say. They worked their way from a neighbouring building at the Place de l’Opera into the bank, where they tied up a security guard while they lifted the contents of some 200 private safes. They set fire to the building, which was then flooded by the sprinkler system that was triggered by the fire alarm.
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Basel police say robbers who broke into the city’s casino in the early hours of Sunday made off with several thousand francs, but they were unable to shoot their way into the vault.
Ten thieves arrived in two gray Audis and split into two groups.
Flying back from warm climates, other time zones to Geneva: keep up your guard at the airport
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Passengers at Geneva’s Cointrin airport are more than normally the target of thieves and purse snatchers during the holidays, and airport security services are cautioning people to be extra-vigilant over the holiday season. A well-known graphic designer was robbed of his bag containing ID, credit cards and money as he was loading his things into a car after a trip, reports 2o Minutes 22 December.
The first holiday weekend, 19-20 December, saw 100,000 people pass through the airport, nearly double the usual number. Signs at the airport remind passengers to be wary: thieves find that tired and disoriented arriving passengers and stressed departing ones are easy prey.
Lake Geneva region, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Thieves are keeping busy this week, with armed robberies in Nyon, Vevey and Crans-Montana, of jewelry stores and expensive boutiques.
Geneva, Switzerland (Tribune de Geneve, Fre) – The Tribune carries a story today about a concierge in Eaux-Vives who lost the family jewels and well over CHF3,000 when thieves took the family safe, a 110kg box that was bolted to the ground and wall. According to the paper, a safe is no safe place for valuables in the city, where thieves steal 5 to10 of them a week.
