Armed attack yesterday morning at the post office in via Santagatone Papa all’Aurelio. Two bandits armed with pistols managed to take customers and employees hostage. One was wearing the overalls of a supermarket worker so as not to arouse suspicion. So they stormed the armored “fortress” and fled with 45,000 thousand euros in cash and stamps. The first phases of the robbery really aroused a lot of fear: the bandits, to enter the agency, took an elderly man hostage by pointing the barrel of the gun at his head. “That poor guy was shaking like a leaf, he feared he was dying,” the witnesses said.
Rome, robbery at the Aurelio Post Office: the bandits (with masks and guns) escape with loot worth over 41 thousand euros
THE ROBBERY
Once inside, the commando also took hostage three operators who were behind the counter. Guns drawn, the criminals held everyone at gunpoint. This time, whoever acted was seriously well informed. Because he knew that the money was not locked in a safe with timed opening and, therefore, almost impossible to open (in that case the criminals would have had to wait hours for it to open).
Instead, yesterday the bandits immediately headed towards a safe without a timer, forcing one of the employees to open it. The chest was opened immediately and the two took possession of the money. The wads of money were placed in a bag and then, with the loot, the two disappeared. Most likely they used a stolen scooter to get away from the post office which is a few meters away from Via Gregorio VII.
Some police cars arrived on the scene. The officers immediately made sure that the hostages were okay, calling the ambulances for first aid. Luckily no one suffered serious consequences, but the shock was enormous.
The bandits acted wearing balaclavas and also latex gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints. The policemen, via radio, described the bandits’ clothing: one dressed casually and the other in a supermarket uniform. The CCTV cameras were immediately viewed which, however, were not of much help considering that the two had their faces covered.
However, there is a lead. It is very likely, in fact, that the wanted people are the authors of the super coup committed against the post office of Vitinia, southern quadrant, about ten days ago. In that case the criminals beat the branch manager and managed to enter the vault and stole 300,000 euros in cash. Then a bandit had pulled a woman’s stocking and his accomplice hat with visor and sunglasses over his face. Investigators are almost convinced that they are the same people and are looking for other traces useful for their identification.
“PROFESSIONALS”
Yesterday morning the scientific police arrived in via Santagatone Papa and carried out a long inspection of the branch which has four windows. The police used reagents to find traces useful to the investigation. Then they viewed the closed-circuit images. It is possible, as has already happened in the past, that some expert investigators can identify the bandits from their build and movements. The investigators, in particular, are examining the lists of criminals recently released from prison: among them, “professional” robbers who have returned to freedom, there could be the perpetrators of the recent attacks on the post office.
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