Overview
- The defendant admitted at trial to setting fire to a Stadtmission Kältebus that was destroyed on New Year's Day 2026 and said he acted to force authorities to investigate people he says have followed him for 23 years.
- A Stadtmission employee and two security staff stopped and detained the suspect at the scene and experts later found him to have been significantly intoxicated during the incident.
- The blaze gutted the outreach vehicle and caused roughly €70,000 in material damage, prompting a wave of public offers of help for the service that aids people experiencing homelessness.
- Prosecutors want the man placed indefinitely in a psychiatric hospital under Germany's Maßregelvollzug system because experts see indications of a severe mental disorder that could affect criminal responsibility; the defendant has been held in a forensic psychiatric facility since his arrest.
- Investigators are still examining whether he was involved in two earlier suspected arson attacks on other Kältebus vehicles from days before the New Year and additional court hearings are scheduled in August to decide responsibility and disposition.