German Man Killed After Blowing Up Condom Machine To Pilfer Rubbers On Christmas Day
A Christmas Day stunt that is both tragic and ridiculous has left one young man dead after he and a couple buddies tried to blow up and rob a condom machine.
The botched robbery attempt happened in Germany, and reports out of the U.K. suggest that the incident happened either Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day. Police didn’t publicly release the details of the death until Monday, the Local reported.
The young man died of the injuries he sustained in the accident on Christmas Day, the Guardian reported.
The plan hatched by the unnamed man, aged 29, and his two friends, aged 27 and 29, apparently went something like this: they intended to rig the condom machine with explosives, run to safety before it blew up, then rush back to the scene to scoop up the condoms and change that spilled out of the machine as a result.
Things didn’t quite go as planned.
Man dies in Germany after blowing up condom machine https://t.co/YWfKb8WpJy
— The Guardian (@guardian) December 28, 2015
The condom machine was located on a quiet street in a German town called Münster, the Mirror noted, which is also where the man killed in last week’s accident was from. The town is located on Germany’s border with the Netherlands.
The men attached a homemade explosive device to the condom machine. Details about that device or whether they had some kind of trigger weren’t released, though reports indicated that the men had to run for cover after the device was detonated.
All three accomplices apparently ran for a nearby getaway car, located at an unspecified distance from the condom machine. It’s not clear if all three men hid inside the car as the bomb exploded, but the one who was killed made it inside.
Unfortunately, he didn’t close the door to the car, and when the bomb exploded, was left unprotected. Their device was very effective in shattering the condom machine, opening its stash of condoms and change, which were then scattered across the street.
But pieces of the condom machine also went flying, and a piece of shrapnel hit one of the men in the head. The Local described the shrapnel as a steel shard, and the Mirror reported that he was struck in the face. The impact of the shrapnel left the young man unconscious at the scene.
His accomplices abandoned the now-exploded condom machine to tend to him. They then fled the scene of the explosion to drive their friend to a hospital in a nearby town called Schöppingen, leaving behind the condoms and money they’d intended to steal.
Reports didn’t specify the man’s injuries, but he died of his wounds shortly afterward, despite doctors’ attempts to revive him, Metro reported.
Man dies in condom machine explosion https://t.co/GQyW6qSQgg pic.twitter.com/ZfBCYK85iQ
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) December 28, 2015
Naturally, the surviving accomplices at first tried to cover up their failed robbery with a fabricated tale to explain how their friend was severely injured. They claimed that he’d fallen down the stairs and banged his head, but hospital officials were reportedly suspicious of the story and called police.
Upon further questioning, one of the two men finally caved and told the truth — that their buddy was killed after the three of them attempted to blow up a condom machine on a quiet street in Münster. Both of the men were subsequently arrested, but were later released from custody.
Reports didn’t specify what charges, if any, the men will face.
After their friend was injured, the attempted robbers didn’t scoop up any of their loot, leaving the street littered with condoms and change for officials to discover after the tragic death. Local residents had apparently contacted authorities after finding the mess.
[Photo by Urusaurus/Shutterstock]
