As police spokesperson Robert Schalten explained, the police officers were called out again because of a disturbance of the peace, Yet, when they arrived, nothing could be heard anymore. This could be connected to a CCTV camera the man has installed beside his apartment door, which would warn him once police or municipal administration representatives would arrive in the house.

On Wednesday, the 58-year-old, who had been treated in the LVR clinic several times in the past, caused a major rescue and police mission. He had stayed in the garage while his car’s engine was running, leading rescue personnel and police officers to suspect a suicide. The emergency doctor examined him but did not admit him to a hospital or clinic.

The police also had no legal cause to detain the man. There seemed no measure of the criminal law reasonable enough to be consulted, as Sebastian Buß, spokesperson of the Bonn State Prosecution explained: „A penal accommodation in a psychiatry unit is only possible if the accused is a danger to the public and when it can be expected that they will commit serious and illegal offences, which injure the victims mentally and physically.“

Offences from the property damage spectrum don’t fall into this category. Yet, there has been a suspicion that he committed a DUI offence at the start of November, which led to the temporary confiscation of his license. „The court now has to decide if the licence will be kept from him permanently“, said Buß.

Because the man seems to be spending a lot of time in the garage near his car, in which he installed a large stereo, it can be considered that he will continue to drive. Buß: „We can secure a car in exceptional cases, i.e. with repeat offenders.“

The situation is getting more and more precarious for residents and neighbours. „Since November I have no normal life anymore, because of the man’s behaviour“, said one neighbour. After midnight he was disturbing his neighbours by playing music in three rooms at the same time, and he was very loud on the stairs too. He has threatened her several times by saying sentences like „This is going to be your last day“. Thus she is quite despairing and hopes for this tyranny to end. The landlord, one of two owners of the building, did not want to comment on the events. „I am in the middle of a court case against the 58-year-old.“

Police spokesperson Schalten tried to calm the situation and said on Thursday: „We are constantly in touch with the municipal authorities and the psycho-social service, to find a possible solution for this rather unusual case.“

Original text: Axel Vogel Translation: Mareike Graepel