The officer, dismissed from the German police after stealing 180 kilograms of cheese from the scene of a road accident, fought to be reinstated. However, the court rejected the former officer's appeal, saying in a statement that the man had “seriously damaged the reputation of the national police” with his conduct. The officer's explanations did not convince the judge.
A police officer from Rhineland-Palatinate in the southwestern Germany committed the theft when the police were called to the A61 motorway in 2019, where a truck had overturned. The officer responsible for securing the scene took nine 20-kilogram packages of cheddar cheese from the wrecked vehicle, worth a total of around 554 euros (approx. PLN 2,300 – editorial note). He took some of the packages to his office. It was not possible to determine what happened to the rest, the court in Koblenz ruled on Tuesday.
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A policeman stole cheese, he explained the reason in court
The officer appealed to be reinstated in court. The man argued that he did not like cheddar cheese and that the one he stole was of virtually no value because it was “not refrigerated and would otherwise have gone to waste.” The court dismissed the former officer's appeal, saying in a statement that the man's conduct had “seriously damaged the reputation of the national police.”
The German television portal Tagesschau reported on Tuesday that the former officer was sentenced to a fine of 2,250 euros (approx. PLN 9,700 – ed.) in an earlier criminal trial.
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