Düsseldorf/Bonn/Hagen (dpa/lnw) – After the attacks on emergency services on New Year’s Eve, the North Rhine-Westphalian police called witnesses and evaluated videos from residents. “We have already received several videos and are quite optimistic that we will be able to identify suspects,” said a police spokesman in Bonn on Tuesday.
In Bonn, several young people and young adults had set garbage containers on fire and then thrown pyrotechnics and stones at the fire brigade during their operation. When the police tried to pave the way for the fire brigade, they too were attacked. The number of rioters is estimated at 40, said the police spokesman. A 19-year-old was temporarily arrested.
The perpetrators are not only threatened with proceedings for serious breaches of the peace, but in the event of a conviction, claims for damages are also possible. In addition to the containers, a car and the road surface were also damaged. “It can be expensive,” said the spokesman.
In Hagen, where hooded perpetrators had built and set fire to a street barricade, the police are calling for witnesses in the local newspaper, a spokesman said. Here is determined because of attempted dangerous bodily harm. Four suspects between the ages of 16 and 20 were temporarily taken into custody.
There were also incidents in Bochum and Essen, where, according to a spokesman, a chain of police officers was shot at with rockets from the crowd when they were protecting the fire brigade during an operation. NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) had sharply condemned all attacks in a WDR interview. According to the State Office for Central Political Services (LZPD), 42 police officers were injured throughout NRW on New Year’s Eve.
