Welcome to the Gran Barnum of the Scalzi bridge, Venice, in front of the train station. I take up the provocation of an acquaintance who works all day at the foot of the bridge, which he prefers to call “Bridge of Scalps”. From morning to night he sees some beautiful things, and he tells me about them a little ironically, a little bitterly. As a journalist, he tells me, you have an obligation to write and report publicly. He is keen to say that the fault lies not with the police, nor with the municipal administrations, past or present. This has been happening for years at the “scalp bridge”, even if the situation has now become unsustainable. There are young thieves who change their shirts and dresses, calmly and with impunity, so as not to be recognized by the police.
Here are some examples of skillful theft used on the Scalpi bridge
Let’s start with the daily techniques, filmed several times from the mobile phone.
Technique n.1 or sewn sleeves.
The petty thieves or petty thieves (usually of the Slavic Roma ethnic group), walk with a jacket under their arm with a sleeve sewn to the bottom. When they commit the robbery, they immediately stuff the wallet or valuables into the closed sleeve. If discovered, or if the police intervene, they immediately show their false innocence: we didn’t take anything!.
n.2 or the tourist map.
With groups of visitors stopping to take photographs, they place a large map of Venice on the backpack of the unfortunate tourist. Pretending to carefully read the streets and squares, they furtively open the backpack on their shoulders.
Technique n.3 or the strong hug.
A maneuver that is now very famous and well-known in newspaper reports. They are usually girls who hug an elderly person, pretending to be a relative or friend. The old man doesn’t have time to understand the cunning misunderstanding, who has already lost his watch and perhaps his notebook.
Technique n.4 or the heavy suitcase.
Usually carried out by 2 Roma males. Extremely violent. At the foot of the Scalpi bridge, tourists with heavy suitcases await. They casually grab the luggage, even after the loud protests of the unfortunate women, and quickly walk up the steps of the bridge. Once they reach the end, they peremptorily present the bill: 35 euros! Fixed rate, according to the numerous testimonies collected. If you don’t pay, the reaction is simple. They keep the suitcase, because they provided the luggage service…
n.5 or the three girls.
Usually well dressed and fake tourists. They wait for the moments of heavy crowding (frequent in the narrow streets) and surround the unsuspecting tourist with shouts and laughter or fake photographs. The unloading of valuables is quickly done. When he realizes it they are already far away.
Technique n.6 or the flight in the Grand Canal.
As soon as the robbery is carried out, they take the cash and make the wallet fly off the bridge. Tests canceled immediately. Last week dozens of flights into the water were witnessed.
But men also act on the scalp bridge
Let’s continue with other fixed and unseemly spectacles of the great Barnum. The sellers of red roses. Technique: they smile at a couple and decisively hand the flower to the lady, hypothesizing with a wink, an unexpected free gift. If the couple accepts and proceeds casually without paying anything, after walking ten metres, they violently take back the rose, probably without thorns.
Three card game. Now a classic at the top of the Scalzi bridge, but there are always chickens who fall for it. It is performed by 5 actors. One plays quickly by moving the three cards and invites you to guess. Two companions pretend to participate in the game and immediately win 50 euros, the last two actors stand at the foot of the bridge to warn the possible arrival of the police with a whistle. Since the game is always in fashion, it means that it brings certain profits.
Fashion of the beggar with little dog in his arms. It always works. My witness assures that the daily income of coins is around 100-150 euros. The feedback comes from the nearby shops of the station, where they go to exchange change for paper money. This too is ultimately a service..
On the Ponte degli Scalpi we act under compulsion
In this regard, from a testimony collected, the beggars’ stations in Venice, depending on the profitability due to the flow of people, are worth from 30 to 50 euros. Let me explain better, at the end of the shift, the Roma controller passes by, the money in addition to the established rate belongs to the beggar. The rest goes to the mafia that controls the poor.
Last testimony, even if not delinquent, is that the large group of Bangladeshi baggage carriers present at the station individually earn between 400 and 500 euros a day. It depends on the shifts organized by their bosses. Violent brawls, live, over questions of precedence or unfair competition are not uncommon. Money is money.
With my eyes
Down from the Scalzi bridge, in the street that leads to Rio Marin, I witnessed and was involved (in spite of myself) in a mugging by three Roma girls. Scene: I hear a French girl shouting: “Prends les, rattrape le!”. That is: take it, get it back! She turns to her husband. She had just been robbed of her red wallet, with technique n.5 of the three girls, in a moment of crowding by the bridge, concentrated for the obligatory photo. A thief escapes with the loot, but two of her are hunted down by her husband (a gentleman from Toulon, about 2 meters tall. I have the live photos, ed.). She starts shouting in French: I’ll only leave you if the third friend brings me back the loot! The thieves don’t understand the language and I have a civic obligation to provide assistance. After the translation, the two swindlers shout at me and insult me: we are minors, we are pregnant, this is a kidnapping, we call the police and then our people come to fix you… This gentleman hurts our wrists, this is violence!
The French giant asks for explanations and I reply, don’t worry, I have already called the traffic police. The police arrive immediately and take them to the headquarters. They told me later that they were already free in the afternoon.
It’s the Cartabia law, beauty…
Anyone who denounces them publicly is attacked
“I am very worried – admits Lady Pickpocket, aka Monica Poli, 750 thousand followers – criminals have increased dramatically, I am referring to Roma males, who are very violent and determined. Now they attack the elderly and disabled on the street. In addition to the station and Piazzale Roma, they act with impunity in the Ponte della Paglia, San Marco, Riva degli Schiavoni, where they wait for groups arriving from Punta Sabbioni, Jesolo, Chioggia with the launches, then the Accademia bridge. But the areas at risk are expanding.”
Solutions? Fixed police force positions on bridges (or at critical points).
Ghetto model, so to speak…
