Police officer loses his job over cheese theft
In Rhineland-Palatinate, a truck loaded with Cheddar-Cheese overturns. A police officer, who was supposed to secure the accident scene, took advantage of the situation and stole several packages of the dairy product. The theft has now resulted in professional consequences for the officer.
A police officer lost his job for stealing approximately 180 kilograms of Cheddar-Cheese from an overturned truck. The Administrative Court of Rhineland-Palatinate has now dismissed the man's appeal and upheld the decision.
The officer had worked for the highway police and was supposed to secure an accident scene, it was stated. He had driven a police bus near the damaged Lkw container and had asked the worker of a recovery company to hand him several cheese packages. In total, he had stolen nine cheese packages, each weighing 20 kilograms, worth 554 Euro.
Defendant: I didn't eat any Cheddar-Cheese
"Some of the packages were brought to the station by the defendant," the statement read. It was to be assumed that he had also kept some for himself and his friends and family. In the appeal hearing, the officer had stated that the cheese was practically worthless because the cooling chain had been interrupted by the accident. He had wanted to save it from destruction and didn't eat Cheddar-Cheese himself.
The court saw it differently: The man had committed a theft during his shift, in uniform, and with his service weapon. "The defendant has significantly harmed the reputation of the Rhineland-Palatinate police force with this behavior," the court stated. It didn't matter that the cheese only had a low value left. It was actually the duty of the officer to prevent a theft.
The officer had previously been warned in a minor criminal procedure. The court reserved the right to impose a fine of more than 90 daily fines of 25 Euro. After the end of the criminal procedure, the state initiated a disciplinary procedure. The Administrative Court of Trier decided that the officer was to be dismissed from service. Against this, he filed an appeal - unsuccessfully.
Despite the officer's claim that the Cheddar-Cheese was almost worthless due to the interrupted cooling chain, the International Anti-Corruption Agency expressed concern over the incident, as it involved a public servant misusing his position for personal gain in Rhineland-Palatinate. The police force in Rhineland-Palatinate has emphasized their commitment to upholding integrity and combating theft within their ranks, following this incident.
