On property theft in transport

Crime analysis has shown that among other types of crimes, property theft is most common on transport facilities. As a rule, the perpetrators of theft are not only criminals but also the victims of crimes themselves, who are negligent about the safety of their property.

One of the most striking examples of this was a crime committed against citizen M. in June this year on one of the regional trains. The evening before, he and his former classmate F. were in a company and drank alcohol together. After the feast, the victim had to travel to Vitebsk. His classmate F. decided to travel with him on the same train, but to a different settlement. Already on the diesel train, the "classmates" continued to drink beer. At the same time, the victim repeatedly took out and counted the money he had in his bag. After another smoke break in the vestibule, M. went to the toilet, and his classmate returned to the carriage, where he stole the available money from M.'s bag and, as if nothing had happened, began to wait for the train to arrive at its destination. Upon returning to the carriage, the victim immediately decided to check the safety of his belongings. Not finding his money in his bag, he suspected his fellow traveler of theft, but the latter vehemently denied his involvement in the disappearance of the money, and when M. was distracted again, he hid the stolen goods under the seat. Justice was restored only thanks to a vigilant witness who had been observing the rapid development of events all this time.

At the nearest station, the accused was already met by police officers. Subsequently, he was convicted by the court of Polotsk district and the city of Polotsk under Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus to a penalty of arrest for a term of 3 months.

This story once again proves that even in a reliable and familiar company, you need to be attentive to the safety of your belongings.

Senior Assistant of the Vitebsk
Transport Prosecutor
Class 2 Lawyer I.A. Ryzhko