Overview
- Sparkasse Gelsenkirchen reopened its foyer and self-service area Jan. 15, while the main branch and safe-deposit vault remain closed for investigations.
- Police say the burglars operated Dec. 27 from 10:45 to 14:44 after entering via a manipulated escape door from a parking garage, covering motion sensors and contaminating the scene with chemicals.
- A report by Focus describes a water hose routed from a women’s restroom to cool a core drill, along with an exchanged lock and garage access via chip, underscoring the operation’s sophistication.
- The BAO “Bohrer” task force counts roughly 200–230 investigators working in shifts, and officials expect months of work to catalogue hundreds of thousands of displaced items before any returns.
- Thousands of victims are pursuing claims as lawyers challenge the roughly €10,300 liability cap per box, and in a separate case an ATM in Witten was blown up on Jan. 15 with suspects still at large.