Czech mayor thanks young man who came to the aid of a crime victim with a memorial coin and a medal from the police

Petr Grundza, age 25, has been awarded a silver commemorative coin by the town of Česká Lípa, a check for CZK 5 000 [EUR 200], and a medal from the Liberec Regional Police Directorate for not hesitating to provide aid to a senior citizen who had been assaulted while returning home from church on Thursday, 2 December in the evening. Grundza apprehended the thief and returned the stolen items to the senior citizen.

The perpetrator currently faces up to 10 years in prison. Grundza's brave deed was appreciated by the Mayor of Česká Lípa, Jitka Volfová, who personally thanked the young man on Monday, 13 December in the ceremonial salon of the town hall, awarding him the silver commemorative coin and the check.    

The ceremony of thanks included Ondřej Musil, director of the Liberec Regional Police Directorate, who decided to award the young hero a medal. "The actions of Mr Grundza give us all hope that good people have not disappeared, that it is normal to give aid to others in an emergency instead of leaving them in the lurch. We should appreciate beautiful human stories in this way, lifting them up as an example for others. I believe that this small gift from the town of Česká Lípa will please Mr Grundza, it is an expression of our gratitude for his assistance to others. I am pleased that people live in Česká Lípa who are not indifferent to the fate of others," the mayor said, also thanking the staff of the local police department for bringing Grundza's exceptional deed to her attention.   

"The actions of Mr Grundza were exceptional, this does not happen every day. That is another reason this is a deed worthy of appreciation. What he did will certainly aid all residents of Česká Lípa by making them feel safer because they know there are people among us who will stand up for others," Musil said when awarding the medal. 

Mr Grundza did not want to speak much about the exceptional nature of his behavior and was quite humble during the ceremonial meeting. "I felt really sorry for the lady. We should respect older people, that is why I did not hesitate to come to her aid," he said of his deed.

The Česká Lípa incident happened on 2 December at about 18:00, when the 73-year-old woman was returning home from church and a man unknown to her pushed her hard from behind as she was walking down Svárovská Street. Once she fell to the ground he began grabbing at her purse, eventually tearing it out of her hand and running away with it.   

The woman called out for help as she was lying on the ground. At that moment a personal vehicle drove past and the driver stopped the car and provided her with aid.

The driver was Mr Petr Grundza. He put her in his vehicle and together they drove through the streets looking for the robber. 

Eventually they spotted the thief at the bus station. The senior citizen made sure she recognized him and Grundza then apprehended and detained him until police arrived.

The suspect had the woman's purse with him and the brave rescuer returned it to the lady on the spot. The next day a detective charged the detained 27-year-old man from Česká Lípa with the crime of robbery and with unauthorizedly acquiring a means of payment, altering it and counterfeiting it, as he had also found and used a bank card in the woman's purse.

At the same time the detective filed a motion for the suspect to be placed into pre-trial detention, but the prosecutor did not accept that, so the accused was released on his own recognizance to await the court's verdict. He faces up to 10 years in prison for the crime of robbery.