Almost two dozen witnesses. Lots of summarized indictments and punishment orders from the past five years. A whole trial day. For the battle over a parking ban in sthashausen, which has been bitterly fought for years, something like a rough cleaning was announced at the kitzingen district court on wednesday. In the end, the accused couple received a custodial sentence and a severe ruffle from the court: the couple, who were chasing the wrong parker, had "difficulties with the law," according to the verdict.
The beginnings of the story go back more than ten years: what started as a kind of quarrel soon turned into a petty war and took on more and more alarming dimensions over the years. Basically, it always revolves around the same incident: there is a parking ban in front of the house of the accused couple – directly at the entrance and exit – but not really everyone cares about it. Regularly held there for a short time. Also because for many years there was a bank branch on the opposite side of the street. This time-as-it-happens short-changed the homeowners so much that from now on their lives revolve around the hunt for the wrong parkers. Thousands of complaints against parkers accumulated over time.
Regular escalation
There are also regular escalations: the couple often accosts the parkunder, photographs and films them secretly. What is a rather trivial occasion has immense consequences: the encounters tend to end in confrontations that are not only verbal in nature. A kick in the abdomen is in the indictment as well as the use of pepper spray. And so the couple, who are easy to get rid of, get themselves fined again and again. A vicious circle that apparently cannot be broken. Especially since the 61-year-old pensioner and the 57-year-old former and now unemployed driver see no reason to reconsider their actions: they see themselves as being in the right. The prosecutor will therefore later in his plea "a compulsive behavior pattern" to them attest. And because it was foreseeable that at least the 57-year-old would "carry on as before", the prosecution considers a custodial sentence wrong and would like to see the unemployed driver behind bars for a year.
Over the years, many motorists got caught up in the etwashaus parking wars. A neighbor who stopped only briefly to let someone out had to listen to the defendant threaten that it was not far to a "bloodbath" and at some point "blew up the neighborhood" become. A pizza delivery man got to feel the wrath of the couple, as did the bouncer of cable shafts, whose parked car also led to a police operation, despite the special rights granted to him.
For the officers, the parking dispute has long become routine. And yet even the law enforcement officers are regularly surprised: most recently, the 57-year-old even secretly filmed a police operation – and now finds that completely normal, even in court. Just as the accused finds it normal to have to let go of racist slogans. According to the prosecutor "extremely xenophobic attitude" plays a leading role in many of the cases with corresponding insults.
House search
The self-proclaimed parkunderjager have another problem: small amounts of marijuana and cannabis seeds were discovered during a house search at the beginning of 2016. The couple denies having anything to do with it. The version of the accused goes like this: former tenants, from whom one had parted in discord, had planted the narcotics on them in order to get revenge. The reason why this version does not hold is that the search took place three months after the tenants moved out. They had left their apartment swept clean. The marijuana, however, is said to have been lying around in plain sight, according to the testimony of a police dog handler. A unterjubeln in the form of a secret hiding place is thus excluded.
All in all, it does not look good for the couple, when at 15.25 o’clock also the last witness is questioned. For the defendants, on the other hand, the situation is quite different: they continue to see themselves as victims, get excited themselves during the closing statement, and accuse the police of bending the law over and over again and also like to speak of "dictatorship". The defense demands acquittal for his clients and attacks the witnesses: they were "quite rude with the truth".
"More than opinionated"
The court then makes a clear statement: the 57-year-old is sentenced to 16 months imprisonment, suspended to three years probation. In addition, the man must perform 200 hours of community service and gets a preservation aide. His life danger, which had been charged with the narcotics and a use of pepper spray, gets eight months, suspended also to three years of probation. The 61-year-old must also perform 100 hours of community service. The couple, according to the judge, is "more than opinionated" and had "an egocentric attitude towards the law".
Because the trial had dragged on for a long time – the trial had already started a year and a half ago and was then broken off – both defendants get a bonus: for the 57-year-old, one month is considered to be suspended, for the 61-year-old, two weeks are deducted.