Modena, 29 June 2024 – “My children they were good: they didn’t reactthey moved away avoiding the worst but the situation could have degenerated. The foolafter trying to steal the scooter, he followed them with a shard of bottle. Is it normal that two kids don’t have the freedom, at 8pm, to eat an ice cream in their own city?”.
The outburst is Gianni Richeldi, a father from Modena who does not hide his concern for his children, both minors. In fact, the man tells how the boys, on Thursday evening, were victims of an attempted robbery of their scooter while they were purchasing a ice cream at the Mukkeria in viale Corassori. When one of the two tried to push the thief away, the latter chased the brothers with a fragment of a bottle in his hands. “I always explained to my children not to react but to run away and it went well: that man could have hurt them. This neighborhood, San Faustino is terrible. I’ve lived here all my life and now we’re in shambles: they deal drugs from morning to night, they steal and nobody does anything. My children are 14 and 16 years old – he continues – they only went out to get an ice cream and they risked their lives. The most disconcerting thing is that none of the many adults present lifted a finger, despite the gentleman in question, a North African having first tried to take the scooter and then to injure the boys with the shard of a bottle. My son, in fact – he underlines – had only asked him to leave his scooter alone. Last year my boyfriend was chased by a baby gang and now I wonder: but where have we ended up? San Faustino is a disaster and people are afraid to go around. Maybe the people of Modena are fine with this, since no one says anything. At this point I hope for the new mayor; I hope he really does something concrete to resolve the situation but I would also like to congratulate the police. There are very few of them – says Richeldi – but they go out of their way to help citizens. They were quick and listened to us but the patrols, especially in the evening, are not enough. We don’t need more cameras but more staff and the certainty of the penalty. It’s always the same criminals who go around: in San Faustino they spend their time passing cocaine around and no one does anything. At this rate we won’t get much further. My son will have to start taking public transport to go to school next year and I’m already trembling at the idea.”
