International officers stop theft and alleged sexual harassment at Oktoberfest

International police officers made two provisional arrests during the first evening of Oktoberfest, BR reported, stopping a suspected pickpocket and a man accused of sexually harassing women.

Pickpocket investigators from Lisbon noticed a 32-year-old man in the Hofbräu festival tent at about 10.40 p.m. He appeared to be looking specifically for opportunities to steal, officers said.

They watched him take a jacket left on a beer bench and search it for valuables. He then allegedly tried to steal a handbag, but its owner noticed. The man is also accused of searching another jacket. Police provisionally arrested him as he left the tent and took him to the Oktoberfest police station.

In a separate incident, pickpocket investigators from Frankfurt am Main intervened after observing a man in a beer tent who had exposed his genitals and allegedly used them to touch several women. Officers provisionally arrested the 45-year-old and took him to the Oktoberfest police station. He was reported for sexual harassment.

About 600 police officers are deployed around Oktoberfest during its 16 festival days. Pickpocket investigators from Belgium, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, France, Romania, Portugal and Luxembourg are working alongside officers from German police forces, including those in Frankfurt, Berlin, Karlsruhe and Cologne.

Germany’s Federal Police are also maintaining a strong presence at the railway stations.