Niegowić. The police detained those suspected of stealing electronic waste from the parking lot of the Volunteer Fire Department

The Volunteer Fire Department in the village of Niegowić near Wieliczka organized a collection of used electrical equipment in mid-October. For a week, residents of the town brought various items to the fire station, including: to old TVs, washing machines and refrigerators. The waste was to be scrapped and the proceeds donated to the Youth Fire Brigade.

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When a lot of equipment had already been collected in the fire station’s parking lot and the removal date was approaching, on the night from Sunday to Monday (October 22/23), the more valuable items disappeared.

As firefighters report on social media, three cars parked at the fire station under the cover of darkness. The men, who were recorded by the monitoring station at the Volunteer Fire Department’s headquarters, “sorted” the more valuable items for over an hour. They took, among others, a 270-kilogram coal stove, washing machine engines and refrigerator compressors. They were particularly interested in items made of copper.

– The police had no major problem identifying the perpetrators. The cameras recorded the license plate numbers and faces of these men. The thieves certainly knew about this collection, because we published appeals to residents to donate electronic waste on our Facebook, and there were also posters – says Janusz Opiela, president of the Niegowić Volunteer Fire Department. He points out that this is the second such collection held in Niegowić.

As senior midshipman Paweł Tomasik, spokesman for the Wieliczka police, emphasizes in the statement, the officers have already detained all people suspected of theft. – On the same day, officers selected and detained two perpetrators from the Wieliczka commune (48 and 38 years old) and one from the Biskupice commune. The fourth perpetrator, a resident of Krakow, was arrested on October 25, Tomasik informs.

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The value of the stolen equipment was estimated at approximately PLN 2,000. – Everything was recovered – says Opiela’s president.

The police inform in a statement that all four men were charged with theft. One of them, a 38-year-old from the Wieliczka commune, will be charged with recidivism. A 38-year-old man from the Biskupice commune, in addition to theft, was also charged with driving a car even though his driving license had been revoked. In turn, a 59-year-old man from Krakow will also be charged with theft as a repeat offender, and also with possession of marijuana. – All perpetrators admitted to committing crimes and voluntarily submitted to punishment – says Tomasik.

As explained by the president of the Volunteer Fire Department Niegowić, the electronic waste has already been removed from the fire station parking lot. For the money earned in this way, firefighters will buy equipment for the Youth Firefighting Team.

– We have nine people aged 10 to 16, there is also a group of younger children and it is for them that we have to buy barracks clothes that we lack. This money is also needed to purchase various equipment for training. It’s a bottomless pit, there are still needs, children need to be trained to be involved in the life of the local community – says Opioła.