Reported from the source

Quick summary: Unknown perpetrators broke into a Sparkasse branch in Halle (Westfalen) on Tuesday midday, emptying four safe deposit boxes. The incident occurred while the bank was open, and police are seeking witnesses. This break-in is the latest in a series of similar incidents in North Rhine-Westphalia, following major cases in Gelsenkirchen and Bonn.

On Tuesday around 12:45 PM, while the Sparkasse branch on Bahnhofstraße in Halle (Westfalen) was open, unknown individuals gained access to the safe deposit box area without using force. It remains unclear how they entered the specific room. The perpetrators then pried open and completely emptied four safe deposit boxes. The police have not yet been able to quantify the value of the stolen contents, but the affected customers have been informed. This incident is the latest in a series of safe deposit box break-ins across North Rhine-Westphalia. Previously, spectacular burglaries in Gelsenkirchen and Bonn saw thousands of safe deposit boxes opened. The State Criminal Police Office (LKA), responding to a WDR inquiry, described the Gelsenkirchen incident as “extraordinary, though apparently not the only theft from safe deposit boxes (vaults or antechambers) in banks in recent years.” The LKA noted that police crime statistics only allow for categorization as “aggravated theft in/from banks etc.,” making a manual evaluation of individual cases currently unfeasible. However, the LKA stated that the proportion of such incidents is “most likely very low.” Police are appealing to the public for any suspicious observations made around the bank branch.

Source: www.tagesschau.de