Four senior citizens in Hanover witnessed a crime and intervened. The pensioners caught the criminal and handed him over to the police.

A group of senior citizens prevented a crime in Hanover. They caught a bicycle thief in the act, pursued him and finally handed him over to the police for arrest.

The three pensioners, one male and one female, had observed a 49-year-old man tampering with a parked pedelec in front of Herrenhausen Palace, the police announced on Monday. The man used an angle grinder and clearly visible sparks to open the bicycle’s security lock on Thursday evening. The 49-year-old then sat on the bike and tried to flee – until the senior citizens intervened.

According to a police spokesman, the three women, aged 68, 77 and 83, and the 68-year-old man gave chase on foot and held onto the bicycle. The thief then left the bicycle behind and tried to escape the elderly by twisting, pushing and squeezing it.

“But he had not reckoned with the sprightly group of senior citizens,” the police said. While the 77-year-old woman alerted the police, the other senior citizens held the man until the officers arrived, it was reported.

The police called the group’s “courageous action” an “exemplary example of civil courage.” Officers found additional burglary tools in the 49-year-old’s backpack. A judge ordered the man to be remanded in custody.

According to the statement, the owner of the Pedelec contacted the police that same evening to file a report. Instead, however, she was able to take back her confiscated bicycle, valued at 2,500 euros.

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