A convicted violent offender remains at large after a Deutsche Bahn security guard was kicked from a moving train during an attack in Baden-Württemberg.

The 26-year-old victim suffered severe head injuries after falling from regional train RB44 as it traveled from Offenburg to Karlsruhe on Friday evening. Bild reported on Wednesday that the victim, a young father, remains in a medically induced coma.

The confrontation began during a ticket inspection when a 36-year-old passenger claimed he could not display his digital ticket because his phone battery was dead. Witnesses said the apparently intoxicated man repeatedly questioned whether the security personnel were qualified to check him.

The situation briefly calmed after federal police were contacted, but the dispute soon erupted again. The passenger allegedly stood up and attacked the guard, causing both men to fall to the floor during the struggle.

🇩🇪 In Germany, a train ticket inspector had an altercation with a man who refused to provide a ticket. The victim was beaten in a scuffle near one of the train doors.

He was kicked against the door, which opened, leading to him falling out of the train that was travelling at 120… pic.twitter.com/IDID3G6TcN

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) July 22, 2026

Witnesses said the passenger kicked the employee near one of the train doors. The door opened during the altercation, and the guard fell through the resulting gap while the train was moving at approximately 120 kilometers per hour.

“Then the security guard suddenly disappeared and was sucked downward by his upper body,” one witness told Bild. “I only saw his legs, and then he was completely gone.”

The train continued for around two kilometers before stopping at Ettlingen-Bruchhausen station.

According to the witness account, the suspect sat on the platform, smoked several cigarettes and then returned to his seat, where he continued drinking beer.

Authorities identified the 36-year-old, who has previous convictions primarily involving violence and is currently serving a suspended sentence on probation.

No further description of the attacker has been published.

Prosecutors requested an arrest warrant, but Karlsruhe District Court rejected the application. The court said silent surveillance footage created uncertainty about the precise sequence of events and concluded that there was not yet sufficient suspicion or an established risk that the suspect would flee.

The judges also reportedly found that the man could not necessarily have anticipated that the train door would open during the struggle.

Prosecutors are considering appealing the ruling. The train has been impounded as investigators work to establish exactly how the door opened and how the guard was thrown from the carriage.