The National Police has arrested two young men, 30 and 22 years old, one of them with a police record, and a 16-year-old minor, as alleged perpetrators of 27 robberies inside vehicles in the town of Arrecife. Many of the cars were parked inside garages. The minor was released after his "exploration", while the adults have been brought to justice and are free on charges.
These robberies occurred mainly in the downtown area of Arrecife at night. Most were committed using the same 'modus operandi': the perpetrators accessed the interior of community garages where, generally after prying doors or breaking vehicle glass and once inside, "they stole all the valuables they found", explains the Police.
As a result of an increase in the number of robberies committed inside vehicles, many of them parked inside garages, a police operation was set up in the city. Thus, in the early morning of September 13, the agents surprised three young people who had just committed a robbery in a vehicle that was parked on Juby Street in Arrecife.
Upon noticing the police presence, the perpetrators fled in different directions. The Police managed to arrest two of the involved parties at the time, the adults arrested. "Subsequently, and as a result of the police investigation carried out, the full identification and arrest of the third alleged perpetrator of the robberies, the minor, is achieved," the police statement relates.
Among the vehicles are those of the mayor and several municipal workers
The investigators consider the three detainees responsible for a total of 27 robberies and damages perpetrated in several vehicles that were parked in different garages in Arrecife.
"It so happens that some of the vehicles that suffered these robberies were owned by workers and public officials of the Arrecife city council, a totally circumstantial fact, since the detainees were not aware of their ownership," the Police also explains.
At the beginning of September, it became known that five cars parked in the same garage, on La Gaviota street, had suffered damage and robberies inside. Their owners were the mayor himself, José Montelongo, the PP councilor Vicente Dorta, two workers from the Technical Office of the Arrecife City Council and a worker from the San Bartolomé City Council. The Police now confirms that these three detainees would be the alleged perpetrators of these robberies.
According to them, with the arrest they have been able to recover "numerous effects", which have already been delivered to their owners. After the instruction of the corresponding police report, the detained minor was released after his exploration, while the adults were placed at the disposal of the Judicial Authority, being released on charges.
