Two girls arrested at shoplifting - shock for Ahrensfelde!

Two girls arrested at shoplifting - shock for Ahrensfelde!

On June 20, 2025, two girls aged 12 and 14 caused excitement in a supermarket in Ahrensfelde. According to barnim-aktuell.de the two accompanied the mother of the 12-year-old, who had forgotten her EC card. While the mother went outside, the girls began to smuggle out over 500 euros. An employee of the supermarket wanted to stop her, but was injured by the 12-year-old with a mobile phone.

Both girls could finally be held and handed over to the police. Interestingly, the 12-year-old is already known to the police, which indicates a possible accumulation of such incidents. The incident is part of a worrying trend that presents retail for major challenges.

theft statistics in focus

The increase in shop theft is a serious problem for retail in Germany. In 2023, according to Deutschlandfunk ads for shop theft, the highest number since 2006. Retailers have to expect inventory losses of 4.8 billion euros annually, which also affects the tax authorities and ultimately customers.

The fact that an estimated 100,000 shoplifting steels remain undetected on every sales day with an average value of the goods of 117 euros. This shows that the prevention measures of shops are often not sufficient. For protection, retailers invest around 1.55 billion euros in theft prevention, but the number of thefts continues to increase.

legal consequences and punishments

The legal consequences for shoplifting are according to lawyer.org . Shopping theft falls under the "simple" theft in accordance with Section 242 of the Criminal Code and can be punished with prison terms of up to five years or fines. It gets even more serious for repeat offenders because they have to expect significantly harder sanctions. Especially with severe thefts, prison terms of three months to ten years threaten. Young perpetrators are subject to youth criminal law and can expect social hours or educational measures.

Another incident that shows how tense the security situation is on June 21, 2025 in Bernau when an 18-year-old Iranian broke into a barbershop despite ban on house and there was a physical examination. The police are investigating for dangerous bodily harm.

Since the security forces and surveillance technologies are often not sufficient to prevent thief damage, many retailers hope for faster and more consistent punishment for the perpetrators. In the future, innovative measures such as the use of artificial intelligence could help combat shop theft more effectively by making security cameras more intelligent.

In this mixed location, consumers can prepare for rising prices, since the cost of theft and security measures flow into the pricing of the retail. The fight against shoplifting remains a challenging task, especially for business owners.