TRENT. In the city there is a gang of kids who rob other kids of their age by ripping gold necklaces from their necks. Three incidents occurred in the late evening of Saturday 8 June and were reported to the police on Sunday morning. In two cases the gang of boys managed to pull off the coup by snatching the necklace.
In the third case there was an attempt, complete with a red mark left on the victim’s neck, but the latter managed to hold the necklace with her hand, preventing it from being taken away. An episode happened in via Mantova around midnight.
A 23 year old from Piana Rotaliana was joining friends in the centre when he was approached by a young foreigner who asked him for a cigarette. “Sorry, I don’t smoke,” he replied. But shortly after a second boy approached him, putting his hand on his neck from behind, in a sort of friendly hug. However, this was not the case because a few seconds later the young victim saw the gold chain around his neck torn off. They didn’t even have time to realize what had happened before the two, together with three other friends, also foreigners, quickly walked away.
The boy set off to join his friends. Along the way he met two policemen and told them what had happened to him. However, they were unable to help. They told him that they were there for another service and that it was appropriate for him to go to the barracks the next day to report. So the boy did and right there he met the other two victims of the same gang.
A second boy, more or less at the same time, had suffered the attempted theft but he had managed to hold onto the two necklaces around his neck with his hand, thus avoiding being robbed.
A third boy, however, was robbed of the gold necklace he was wearing around his neck. A precious memory of my recently deceased grandmother. Her story was similar too.
Near the cemetery area, while walking with his girlfriend, two boys had approached him with an excuse and then staged the fake hug. When he pushed them aside and thought they were gone, he felt a strong pull on his neck. The necklace had vanished and he had ended up on the ground, also bruising his knees.
Probably if instead of advising the boy to go to the barracks the next day Had someone from the police intervened immediately, the gang of boys could probably have been intercepted.
“They didn’t go unnoticed – said one of the victims – because they were all wearing colored football shirts.”
More than a week after the incident, none of the victims have heard anything further, nor of what was stolen from them nor of the possible perpetrators. The gang is therefore still in circulation. The kids who frequent the city on these summer evenings are warned. Be careful of anyone who approaches with the excuse of a cigarette. PT
