Swiss police respond to isolated noise complaints and robberies on Halloween

Many police deployments due to noise, egg throwing and robbery on Halloween Keystone-SDA

The various cantonal and communal police forces stepped up their presence on Halloween night. In Meilen in canton Zurich, youths committed robbery offences, but in many places it remained largely quiet.

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A group of at least six young men threatened and robbed several 13 to 16-year-olds in Meilen on Friday night, the Zurich cantonal police reported on Saturday. They stole mobile phones and a scooter. One 15-year-old suffered a head injury and required medical treatment in hospital.

Local police officers from Meilen were able to arrest two suspects – a 16-year-old Somali and an 18-year-old Latvian. The cantonal police are still investigating.

Burning e-scooters

Otherwise, the night was mostly peaceful, the press release continues. “The police saw lots of children and young people peacefully roaming the neighbourhoods in their scary costumes.”

Nevertheless, the Zurich cantonal police registered a total of around 70 Halloween incidents between 5 pm and 7 am, while the Zurich city police recorded a further 50, mostly involving eggs being thrown at facades and vehicles or pyrotechnics being set off.

In the city of Zurich, various unknown persons also set fire to two electric scooters and an old clothes container and destroyed a mobile toilet with fireworks. The city police also reported that “in a few cases, traffic buses were blocked by waste containers, some of which were set on fire”.

The Aargau cantonal police received over 70 reports of mischief and damage to property on Halloween night. There was no major damage this year, the police announced on Saturday. In Wettingen, for example, bundles of newspapers were set alight at three different locations within 1.5 hours. In one case, the fire brigade had to be called out to extinguish the fire.

According to the police, eggs and fireworks were confiscated during various identity checks as a precautionary measure. It was noticeable this year that many young people were out and about with fireworks, especially firecrackers. Laser pointers, balaclavas and knives were also confiscated in order to prevent criminal offences.

Eggs and masks seized

The Schaffhausen police also reported that the night was mostly calm. “As in previous years, there were isolated incidents typical of Halloween”, they state in a press release, listing egg throwers and noise disturbances. “No major incidents, personal injuries or major damage to property were recorded.”

The St Gallen cantonal police also stepped up their presence and carried out preventive identity checks, as they announced on Saturday. The patrols deployed confiscated raw eggs at various locations. They also seized brass knuckles, knives, masks and narcotics. However, most of the checks were negative and did not give rise to any complaints, according to the police.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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