Now the public prosecutor's office has brought charges against a 22-year-old suspect. The man is accused of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm in two cases. He has previously been convicted of various offenses ranging from property damage to coercion. He had just completed a two-year juvenile sentence for theft around a month before these latest incidences occurred.

The first attack took place on the evening of August 3. In the outdoor area of a burger restaurant on Friedrich-Breuer-Strasse, a 30-year-old customer had been waiting for his order. On the opposite side of the street, a man caught his eye because he kept looking in his direction. The customer later testified to police that he initially thought the man was waiting for his bus.

But instead, the man reportedly approached the burger customer from behind in an unobserved moment, the prosecution asserts in its indictment. The man is said to have held a cutter knife with a blade extended in his left hand, using it to try to cut the throat of the unsuspecting customer without any apparent reason. But because the waiting customer had seen the man approaching from the corner of his eye, the 30-year-old turned around shortly before the attack. This may have saved the victim in that he only received a deep cut from the bottom of his right chin across his left cheek to near his left ear. The perpetrator is said to have fled immediately in the direction of Limpericher Strasse, and the victim pursued him for a short distance in vain. After returning to the restaurant, the man was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

The second case was similar: On the evening of August 12, a young couple was sitting on a bench on the riverbank near the passenger ferry "Rheinnixe". They too noticed a person who passed by them several times. Around 10 p.m. he is said to have approached again, suddenly attacking the 27-year-old man from behind with a sharp object. In this case as well, the victim suspected the intention of the assailant, got up and turned in his direction. For that reason, he did not suffer a deep stab wound, but instead an approximate 13 centimeter long wound on his neck and a five centimeter long and one centimeter deep cut on his right shoulder.

In this instance, too, the victim is said to have briefly pursued the perpetrator who was fleeing in the direction of Ringstrasse before going for treatment to a nearby hospital. Police followed up with intensive investigations, led by the Criminal Investigation Unit 11, which is responsible for homicides, among other things.

Thanks to matching descriptions of the perpetrators, the accused was finally arrested in the afternoon hours of August 14 near Steinerstrasse in Beuel. He denies having committed the crimes. The trial is not expected to begin until next month.

(Orig. text: Leif Kubik; Translation: ck)