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Photo: Maximilian Koch / IMAGO
Because a police officer from Rhineland-Palatinate stole around 180 kilograms of cheese, he lost his job. The officer illegally took nine packages of cheese from an accident truck five years ago, which is why he was removed from duty in mid-January, the Trier Administrative Court announced on Friday. To cover it up, the police officer is also said to have told untruths to his superiors.
The man was involved in a serious accident involving a semi-trailer truck loaded with cheese in 2019. He then drove past the truck's broken refrigerated container in a police minibus. The police officer asked an employee of the salvage company to hand over several undamaged packages of cheese. He was in uniform and armed with a service weapon.
Serious violations
By stealing while in uniform, he violated his duty of good conduct as a civil servant, it was said. He also lied to his superiors and claimed that the cheese was lying on the street and had been released.
The court considered it proven that the civil servant had “long-term and significantly separated himself from the existing relationship of trust and loyalty.” Officials can be removed from duty if they seriously violate their official duties. The Frankenthal regional court had already found the police officer guilty of less serious theft with weapons in 2022 and warned him.
wit/dpa