Safenwil store owner shocked Ten-year-old steals - because a peer threatened to beat him?

A store owner in Safenwil AG can hardly believe it. Two ten-year-olds rob him. The store owner knows the boys. What's behind it all leaves you speechless.

Hans Peter Plüss, the owner of an electrical shop in Safenwil AG, is concerned about an incident that has left him stunned: a boy of just ten years old stole a Bluetooth speaker from his store together with a boy of the same age. What's particularly juicy is that Plüss knows the perpetrator personally.

"The store is on his way to school," the owner told Tele M1. "So you think: it can't be that someone who walks past here almost every day comes in to steal."

The incident is documented crystal clear on the CCTV footage: Two boys enter the store. One distracts the employee, while the other quickly makes the loudspeaker disappear in his rucksack.

Not just theft, but also blackmail?

Plüss initially published the pictures on Facebook - a move that worked: the mother of one of the boys recognized her son and was standing in the store with him the next morning. She apologized, returned the stolen goods and paid for the damage. In return, the Facebook post was deleted.

But the story took a surprising turn. According to Plüss, the boy explained that he had been blackmailed by his friend: If he didn't steal, he would be beaten up.

Particularly brazen: The alleged blackmailer returned to the store just minutes after the coup - and ratted out his accomplice. Plüss is certain that if this version is true, he will not press charges. His wish: the boys should simply have learned their lesson.