Their victims were mainly elderly women, isolated and near public car parks; they distracted them with the coin technique and stole their bags. In this way a gang made up of four people would have carried out 35 aggravated thefts in various areas of Northern Italy.
At the end of the investigation by the detectives of the Cremona Flying Squad, one of the members of the gang ended up in prison while the other three were reported in a state of freedom.
The technique consists in distracting the victim as soon as he gets into the car, drawing his attention to some coins on the ground near the door, warning him that he has lost money. Taking advantage of the moment in which the victim is about to collect the money, the accomplices steal the purse previously placed on the passenger seat, and then walk away. Very often the criminals are also quick to use the cards found in the bags, before the blocking carried out by the owners.
The investigation began after the complaint lodged by an elderly lady regarding a theft suffered in the forecourt of a supermarket, using the coins ruse.
The investigative activity developed with a series of observation and shadowing services which allowed the Mobile police officers to acquire evidence against a group of people who had precedents for the same type of crimes.
Thanks to these elements, in May last year, the policemen of the Flying Squad arrested two members of the criminal group in flagrante delicto on charges of aggravated theft, resistance, injury to a public official and aggravated damage.
During one of the surveillance services the policemen noticed the suspects wandering around the car park of the Cremona hospital; they followed them in the direction of Brescia while they were looking for an ideal victim in four supermarket car parks, until, in Manerbio, they went into action with the usual plan. Immediately after the shooting, the police chased them and at the end of a high-speed chase, they managed to corner them in a dead end and stop them as they fled on foot, sustaining injuries during the struggle.
