The intensification of surveillance and control services, aimed at guaranteeing public order and safety in Gallarate, ordered by the Varese Police Commissioner, Dr. Carlo Ambrogio Enrico Mazza, made it possible to develop an important investigative activity conducted by the local Public Safety Commissioner. This led to the referral to the competent Judicial Authority of 10 individuals, including a minor, for crimes of brawling, carrying objects capable of offending and aggravated threats. Furthermore, following the investigative activity of the Anti-Crime Police Division, the Police Commissioner issued the so-called “DASPO Willie”which will prohibit recipients from accessing public premises and businesses located in the city center of Gallarate and in the area adjacent to the railway station for two years.
In particular, the Gallarate police station reconstructed the violent events that occurred near the city’s train station on June 3, revealing that the origin of these episodes was a previous brawl, which occurred in the same area, which involved two opposing factions.
From the reconstruction of the events, in particular, it was established that the two groups, which faced each other on 3 June, were made up of one of sub-Saharan origins and the other of young North Africans, Albanians and Romanians.
The analysis of the video surveillance systems, examined by the investigators of the PS police station, revealed that the group made up of North Africans, Albanians and Romanians, after consuming numerous bottles of beer and spirits in front of a bar in the area and throwing several on the ground , headed towards the entrance of the train station in the direction of some members of the other group. Here a first contact occurred, temporarily interrupted by some passers-by who intervened. However, the confrontation continued near the rear entrance of the station, where the protagonists, armed with bottles recovered from waste bins, attempted to clash several times, until the clash actually occurred shortly afterwards.
In particular, in an area adjacent to the city velostation, a member of the faction “North African, Albanian, Romanian” he was attacked by four members of that group “sub-Saharan”, one of whom, riding a bicycle, launched himself at full speed against his opponent, hitting him in the pelvis with the front wheel and another threatened him, without however hitting him, with a hammer.
The theater of events then moved to Piazza XXV Aprile and Via Borghi, where the members of the two factions chased each other brandishing glass bottles and a hammer. However, they did not manage to clash thanks to the timely intervention of the patrols of the Commissariat, the Carabinieri and the Local Police, who prevented the escalation of the physical clash again.
During the investigations, in addition to the seriousness of the behaviors carried out by each participant in the brawl, some of whom were already investigated for similar episodes, a worrying inclination emerged to reiterate, blatantly and dangerously, concrete and violent actions with a negative impact on public order, with evident negative repercussions also on the perception of safety by the citizens, who were particularly alarmed by the episode, which occurred among other things in the early evening, when the majority of commuters were returning.
This is also why the State Police did not wait to respond promptly, even in preventive terms. As mentioned in the introduction, the Police Commissioner of the province of Varese, through the local Anti-Crime Police Division, immediately issued the “DASPO Willie”provided for by Legislative Decree 130/2020, which tightened the sanctioning regime for the crime of brawling, giving the Police Commissioner the power to extend the powers of application of the Urban Daspo towards all participants in the brawl, for the sole fact of their participation.
People affected by the Daspo will be prohibited from accessing public premises and businesses located in the area where the serious episode occurred. They will not be able to access restaurants, pastry shops, ice cream parlors, bars and similar establishments, dance halls, gaming rooms and nightclubs, with the aim of preventing any dangers to public safety resulting from their behavior.
Violation of the provision carries a prison sentence of 6 months to 2 years and a fine of 8,000 to 20,000 euros.1 The provision was issued against 7 suspects, all duly identified and present on the national territory. Another 3 subjects are still in the process of being completely identified.
