Police investigate camper van left parked for over five months now

A seemingly abandoned camper van left parked in the Brüggli area of the city for some time is encroaching on five spaces in all. Fortunately, it is not interfering with traffic flow, hence it has not been towed away, but the police are keen it should be removed as soon as possible.

As journalist Zoe Gwerder wrote in this article, the camper van has been parked at this spot for five months now. That it is taking up five parking spaces is not so much a problem during the week, but it is at weekends when it is sunny. Various members of the public had pointed out the abandoned vehicle to the Zuger Zeitung, though now, of course, the police are aware of it, as can be seen by the fact it is taped off.

Police investigating have discovered that the vehicle is one registered in the name of a company owned by a German national, resident in the municipality of Knonau in the canton of Zurich. Further investigation showed that the Zug Registry of Companies listed seven firms run by the aforementioned German, all operating from the premises on Baarerstrasse in Zug. Unfortunately, none of the firms has its own website, so there are no e-mail addresses through which the proprietor might be able to be contacted. One telephone number was listed, but this is no longer valid. Other people mentioned on the companies’ records all live in Germany Austria or Denmark.

Further investigation led to one of the afore-mentioned foreigners saying that the owner of the company, in which the camper van was registered, died last February, his will leaving everything to his wife. It is as a result of personal protection rights that the police are not able to confirm anything in relation to the death.

Urs Raschle, the core city councillor responsible for such matters, said how, initially, not much attention was paid to the camper van, as it was quite normal for such vehicles to be there over winter, as there are no parking charges. Out of interest, the land there is actually owned by the Corporation of Zug but leased to the city. “Legally, there is not much the city can do,” he said. “The police are dealing with it.”

Police spokeswoman Judith Aklin said that, while the van was indeed parked on public property, it was not actually causing an obstruction as such, which is why it had not been towed away. “As it has not been possible to contact the owner, we have been endeavouring to contact people within his circle,” she explained. “None of these has said they were fully responsible for the vehicle, but only partially. A promise made by one person to collect it has not been met. Now we are looking to have it towed away and find out who is responsible for the costs involved.”