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![The now retired gas station saleswoman Sonja B. * (64) was attacked twice.]()
Celine Trachsel
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1/11
The now retired gas station saleswoman Sonja B. * (64) was attacked twice.
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Celine Trachsel
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2/11
“The second attack bothered me more because I felt so exposed,” says Sonja B. * (64).
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![Robbery in Arbon TG: A stranger pulls out the gun in the petrol station shop.]()
Cantonal Police Thurgau
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10/11
Robbery in Arbon TG: A stranger pulls out the gun in the petrol station shop.
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![In Kreuzlingen TG, the petrol station employees were threatened and the perpetrator fled with the loot.]()
Cantonal Police Thurgau
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11/11
In Kreuzlingen TG, the petrol station employees were threatened and the perpetrator fled with the loot.
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The perpetrator showed Sonja B. * (64) a knife and quickly stowed it back in his jacket pocket. He was sorry, but unfortunately he had to have the money from the till, the man said to the gas station saleswoman. But he doesn’t want to harm her. Despite the mild words, Sonja B. was immediately in a state of shock.
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Attacks on gas stations, kiosks and small shops are not uncommon in Switzerland. In the cantons of Bern, Zurich and Aargau alone, the perpetrators strike at least once a month. Probably because they believe they can get money quickly and easily.
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Robbery boom in the Corona year
In the Corona year 2020, robberies increased by four percent across Switzerland, and there were even more crimes in certain categories. So there was in the canton of Zurich, for example, twice as many gas station robberies as in 2018 and 2019. In total, robbers struck ten gas station shops in Zurich in 2020 (previous years: only 5 or 4 cases). If you add the raids on banks, post offices and shops, there were 19 such acts in the Corona year in the canton of Zurich alone.
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“In the case of property crimes, the motivation to commit such a crime is financial hardship,” explains Zurich criminal lawyer Jürg Krumm. He has already defended some perpetrators who had committed robberies. He explains: “Or you want to buy things that you would otherwise not be able to afford. Petrol station robberies happen in a kind of economic desperation to get money as quickly as possible. ” According to Krumm, these are both planned and spontaneous crimes. The perpetrators came mainly from lower social classes and were rather young – often with a criminal record, i.e. mostly petty criminals.
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Small prey, big risk
Krumm says clearly: “You risk jail for a few 100 francs. The booty is usually relatively small in terms of the punishment that threatens and the harm that is caused. “
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Because: Usually there are only a few hundred francs in the till because it is emptied several times a day – rarely a low four-digit amount. The penalties, on the other hand, range from conditional to several years in prison – and certainly pre-trial detention if a perpetrator is caught. According to Swiss crime statistics, the clearance rate for robbery offenses is 48 percent.
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Every operator with secret security concepts
When it comes to the question of what the police and shopkeepers are doing to prevent robberies, no one takes a look at the cards. «We have a security concept and support if necessary. For security reasons, we don’t want to say more, ”explains Sabine Schenker, media spokeswoman for Coop Mineraloel AG.
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It sounds similar at Valora, the group operates the K kiosks. «Valora attaches great importance to the safety of its employees. For this reason, the managing directors are regularly trained on security issues – this also includes how to behave in the event of robberies, ”says communications officer Martin Zehnder.
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The Zurich canton police did not answer any questions about prevention or the difficulties involved in the investigation. Media spokesman Alexander Renner only reveals: “A popularity scale for the respective shops is not recognizable.” Regardless of the escape route, and regardless of whether it is a rural or urban location – it could affect any shop.
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Training and follow-up support
At the Volg media office, which includes the top shops at Agrola petrol stations, it says: “The topic of robberies is regularly addressed in internal training courses and employees are trained to behave correctly in an emergency.” At Migrolino, media spokesman Marco Fallico replies that there are compulsory learning modules and posters with the most important behavior and emergency instructions: “The top priority for employees is to stay calm and not endanger themselves and customers who are present.”
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All of the retail chains asked also state that a care team is available to those affected after an attack. Because the psychological consequences for the victims should not be underestimated.
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Blick spoke to several victims. Sonja B. was robbed twice in Embrach ZH. After that, she went back to work normally on both occasions – until she retired. But the feeling that someone could harm her, that remained. “From now on I always looked back over my shoulders when I was out and about.”
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After the attack in therapy
A younger colleague of Sonja B.’s did not return to work – the flight attendant had to look for a new job due to Corona. “She was often afraid of being alone in the petrol station shop early in the morning or late at night,” says a work colleague. “One day she talked about having a bad feeling, the robbery happened.” The woman immediately gave up the new position.
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A now retired saleswoman from a Winterthur petrol station shop did not stop voluntarily. She says: “After the second robbery, the boss fired me. As if I had let myself be ambushed! ” In addition to the financial losses, the act also plagued her mentally for a long time: she had to take pills in order to function normally again. “It was years ago, but to talk about it today will stir everything up again.” Therefore, she does not want to give a detailed interview.
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Defense lawyer Jürg Krumm knows: “Most perpetrators soon develop remorse because they notice what they have done to the seller. Some know that from the start, some only realize it afterwards and then they are extremely sorry. ” A small part of the perpetrators, on the other hand, is “very hardy” – they don’t care about the consequences.
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The more brutal the act, the greater the aftereffect
According to Krumm, whether a victim copes well with an attack or not depends very much on the person and the act. “If someone has a pistol in front of their face and believes it is real and the perpetrator is serious about his threat, then the victim is surely in fear of death. That’s not something you want to experience. “
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Sonja B. also says: “It depends a lot on how the attack goes. With my first one, I stood in front of the shop and ran away, with the second one, however, I was in the narrow shop and was delivered. That bothered me a lot more. ” She also knows sales women who were even forced into other rooms and tied to the floor. “I think if I had experienced something like this, I would never have returned to work.”
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