Thomas Wolf (criminal)

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Thomas Wolf (born in Düsseldorf), also known under the alias of David van Dyk (or David van Dyke), is a German criminal and was, until capture in May 2009, one of the most wanted fugitives in Germany for nine years. [1] [2] Thomas Wolf speaks fluent and accent-free German, English and Dutch. [3]

Düsseldorf Place in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Düsseldorf is the capital and second-largest city of the most populous German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, as well as the seventh-largest city in Germany. with a population of 617,280. At the confluence of the Rhine and its tributary Düssel, the city lies in the centre of both the Rhine-Ruhr and the Rhineland Metropolitan Regions with the Cologne Bonn region to its south and the Ruhr to its north. Most of the city lies on the right bank of the Rhine. The city is the largest in the German Low Franconian dialect area. "Dorf" meaning "village" in German, the "-dorf" suffix is unusual in the German-speaking area for a settlement of Düsseldorf's size.

Fugitive person who is fleeing from custody

A fugitive is a person who is fleeing from custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from justice, also known as a wanted person, can be a person who is either convicted or accused of a crime and hiding from law enforcement in the state or taking refuge in a different country in order to avoid arrest.

Contents

Escape

Having been repeatedly convicted (among other crimes, of bank robbery) and thus, oscillating between freedom and imprisonment, Wolf neglected to return to prison at the scheduled time after the 1999 Christmas release. On 20 April 2000, he was seen robbing a Commerzbank office in Altona, a district of Hamburg, netting about half a million EUR. Wolf's whereabouts were not known by the police for the next nine years except for numerous crimes associated with him, most of them committed in Germany but some also in Belgium and Netherlands.

Bank robbery crime of stealing from a bank using violence

Bank robbery is the crime of stealing money from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank-owned property, such as a train, armored car, or (historically) stagecoach. It is a federal crime in the United States.

Commerzbank major commercial bank

Commerzbank AG is a German banking and financial services company based in Frankfurt, Germany. Commerzbank is Germany's second-largest listed bank. The bank is present in more than 50 countries around the world and provides almost a third of Germany's trade finance.

Altona, Hamburg Borough of Hamburg in Germany

Altona is the westernmost urban borough (Bezirk) of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy and Denmark's only real harbour directly to the North Sea. Altona was an independent city until 1937. In 2016 the population was 270,263.

Kidnapping

According to police, on 27 March 2009 Wolf kidnapped the wife of a banker in Wiesbaden. He asked for a ransom of 1.8 million EUR, which the banker paid. [1] Despite police surveillance, Wolf managed to leave with the money. He was, however, identified by testimony of the kidnapped wife, which led to reinvigoration of the hunt on him.

Wiesbaden Place in Hesse, Germany

Wiesbaden is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. In January 2018, it had 289,544 inhabitants, plus approximately 19,000 United States citizens. The Wiesbaden urban area is home to approx. 560,000 people.

New hunt and capture

After the kidnapping, police set a bounty of 40 000 EUR (and later, 100 000 EUR) for information leading to arrest of Wolf. Despite the bounty, Wolf's capture took three months. Wolf was found when he announced for a date on 16 May 2009 in Hamburger Abendblatt . Reportedly, he made strange demands to the woman who answered — in particular, he requested that she rent a room for him in her name and open a bank account for him in her name — which made her suspicious and led her to report the encounter to police. Subsequently, police located Wolf's cellphone, whose number he had given to his date, and arrested him on the Reeperbahn, after his departure from Lehmitz, a well-known pub.

<i>Hamburger Abendblatt</i> daily newspaper

The Hamburger Abendblatt is a German daily newspaper in Hamburg.

Reeperbahn street in Hamburgs St. Pauli district

The Reeperbahn is a street and entertainment district in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's major red-light district. In German, it is also nicknamed die sündigste Meile and Kiez. The Reeperbahn Festival is among the largest club festivals.

Pub drinking establishment

A pub, or public house, is an establishment licensed to sell alcoholic drinks, which traditionally include beer and cider. It is a relaxed, social drinking establishment and a prominent part of British, Irish, Breton, New Zealand, Canadian, South African and Australian cultures. In many places, especially in villages, a pub is the focal point of the community. In his 17th-century diary Samuel Pepys described the pub as "the heart of England".

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Wanted poster poster distributed to let the public know of an alleged criminal whom authorities wish to apprehend

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References

  1. 1 2 Süddeutsche Zeitung 28 May 2009 21:54: Auf der Reeperbahn abends um halb sieben by Von J. Schneider
  2. ↑ The Local 29 May 2009 10:22 CET: Germany's most-wanted fugitive arrested in Hamburg
  3. ↑ "Entführer Thomas Wolf - Der Mann mit den vielen Gesichtern", FAZ,


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