Czech Republic: Juvenile brutally assaults homeless man in Olomouc

A brutal, unprovoked assault has been under investigation for several days now by police in Olomouc, but neither the local media nor the public have taken any interest in the incident. A youth is said to have first overwhelmed a 45-year-old homeless man using pepper spray before brutally kicking him. News server iDNES.cz reported that officers are working under the assumption that the youth is a member of a radical movement, but police refused to confirm that to news server Romea.cz.

The assault took place on Thursday, 31 May at about 9:30 PM on Dolní náměstí in Olomouc. The Olomouc Municipal Police were the first to respond after a random witness to the incident called their hotline.

“Patrolmen determined at the scene that a man was lying on the ground bleeding with multiple bruises and that his eyes had been exposed to pepper spray. While one patrolman treated his injuries, the others set off after a man whose description and direction of flight they received from those servicing the local CCTV system. The patrolmen apprehended a man corresponding to that description soon afterward,” said Magda Václavíková, spokesperson for the Olomouc Municipal Police.

According to the spokesperson, the youth has confessed to committing the attack. “Patrolmen apprehended a youth who has not yet turned 18 and is from a village in Olomouc district. They handed him over to police officers from the local Czech Police department, together with the pepper spray confiscated from him. They transported the injured 45-year-old man for treatment to the surgery department of the Olomouc Military Hospital,” Václavíková said.

“I can only confirm that we are investigating an attack on a homeless man. The perpetrator was detained and we are investigating the case as one of grievous bodily harm, but according to the detectives, we cannot release any details as the investigation is ongoing,” Josef Bednařík, spokesperson for the Olomouc Regional Police, told news server iDNES.cz.

“The crime may be reclassified after a thorough investigation ,” Czech Police spokesperson Marie Štrbáková told news server Romea.cz. She refused to confirm the information reported by news server iDNES.cz that detectives are investigating whether the assailant belongs to a radical movement.

The youth is said to have selected his victim completely randomly. The blows of the very brutal assault were aimed primarily at the homeless man’s head. The victim ended up in the operating room with a fractured skull; his life was saved by the rapid operation.

“He suffered serious injuries to his head and brain that were life-threatening. A very demanding operation was performed successfully by our neurosurgeons and on Wednesday we transferred the patient, who was conscious and stabilized, into the care of doctors at the Olomouc Military Hospital,” Egon Havrlant, spokesperson for the Olomouc Teaching Hospital, told news server iDNES.cz.

If convicted of grievous bodily harm, the youth faces only a five-year prison sentence for the brutal, unprovoked assault because he is a juvenile. He has been released on his own recognizance. News server Romea.cz reports that residents of Olomouc are not planning any demonstrations against crime or increasing violence in response to this incident.