They are almost still children – and brutally attacked prostitutes to rob them. The gang includes ten Syrians, the youngest is only 14, the oldest 19 years old. Among the victims: Ioanna (aged 24) from Hagen. On Tuesday, her alleged tormentors were caught.
In a high-rise building in Röttgen Street, officers arrested the accused brothers Abdelkarim (16) and Mahmoud A. (17). Arrest warrants were executed against two other accomplices (16, 17) at their addresses. In addition, the flats of six other co-accused (14, 15, 16, 17, 17 and 19) were searched.
During the raid by the “Date” investigation commission, suspected weapons (including a pistol) and valuables such as jewellery, which might have originated from the robberies, were seized.
The gang’s scam: They were looking for their victims on the internet portal www.ladies.de. One of them pretended to be a client, called the prostitute and arranged a meeting. Then they started robbing the ladies, usually in groups of five. There were at least three victims, and more are suspected. According to the newspaper BILD, the investigators found a video of another alleged crime on a confiscated mobile phone.
The attack on Ioanna on July 1 in Hagen shows how brutal the perpetrators were. The Greek-born woman was choked, held down and beaten. She briefly lost consciousness. Then Ioanna felt the next blows. Kicks hit her skull. One of them poured the dustbin over her. Everyone laughed.
Someone even tried to set fire to the rubbish, but was pushed away. After about ten minutes, the perpetrators locked Ionanna up and fled with over 1000 euros in cash, a gold bracelet and a mobile phone.
Her lawyer Christian Simonis told BILD: “Ioanna is still suffering from the injuries of the attack. She is very relieved that the criminals have now been arrested and hopes that they will get a deserved punishment in court.”