German police arrest suspect in coal plant sabotage spree

German police have arrested a 48-year-old man near the western city of Aachen in connection with a series of sabotage attempts targeting electricity substations serving brown coal power plants, ending a week-long manhunt that began after the first confirmed attacks on September 1.

Arrest near Weisweiler

The suspect, identified as Daniel V., was taken into custody at a traffic stop near Weisweiler, close to Aachen in northwestern Germany, according to Der Spiegel. Police said investigators had been searching for him for days after homemade devices were used against substations supplying lignite plants in multiple states. On Monday evening, officers discovered several homemade launch devices near the Weisweiler power plant — the same type used in earlier attacks.

Sabotage method and targets

The devices were built to fire thin wire over high-voltage lines and trigger short circuits, according to investigators. Similar ramps appeared last week in Brandenburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony, with the first confirmed strikes occurring on September 1 at substations serving the Jaenschwalde lignite plant in eastern Germany and facilities near Bergheim, west of Cologne.

Claimed responsibility

Letters claiming responsibility reached German media last week signed with the suspect's full name, with the writer asserting he acted alone and that left-wing groups "had nothing to do with it." In the correspondence, Daniel V. wrote: "Electricity generation from fossil fuels is a crime that brings unspeakable suffering," and insisted: "I am not attacking the country but the fossil fuel industry, even if for some politicians that is the same thing." He added that he would "not be sad" if Germany's arms industry suffered outages, "particularly as long as Germany supports the genocide in Palestine."