they knock a man in a wheelchair to the ground and steal his money and morphine

2024-01-11 15:44:53

Barcelona They saw him enter the bank in a wheelchair and waited for him. When he came out, the two boys followed him a few meters and jumped on top of him. The man, middle-aged and with reduced mobility, fell to the ground. The two boys searched his wallet and stole the 150 euros he had just taken out of the bank. Then they ripped out a catheter that was connected to a pump that supplied him with morphine to ease the pain. This catheter was stuck in his back and the man started bleeding. The two assailants ran off with the money and the morphine.

It was January 7 at two in the afternoon, in the center of Reus, in broad daylight. The Mossos d’Esquadra managed to identify and arrest the perpetrators of the robbery a day and a half later. They are two 19-year-old boys. “They accumulate multiple antecedents,” explains sub-inspector Marco Jiménez, responsible for public safety in Reus. One of them has six and the other four, all for similar crimes. Especially, robberies with violence. “They commit opportunistic crimes,” adds the sub-inspector. In this case, the robbery was not planned and they had not followed up on the victim beforehand. They simply saw him enter the bank in a wheelchair and wanted to take advantage of it.

The victim was never able to defend himself, but he did pull out a spray and sprinkled the clothes of the thieves. This allowed the Mossos to identify them more easily. The first assistance was provided by a citizen, who helped him to sit in the chair. The victim is now doing well after being treated by paramedics. The key to solving the case was not the security cameras, but the thieves were people the police knew very well. When the victim was shown the photographs of Reus’ most active multi-recidivist thieves, the man was able to clearly identify them. On January 9 in the morning, a patrol already identified and arrested one of the two perpetrators. The other surrendered a few hours later at the police station.

Multirecidivism

This case perfectly exemplifies the phenomenon of multiple recidivism. One of the two thieves had already been arrested 48 hours earlier by the Mossos for a violent robbery in a business. After being arrested for robbing the wheelchair-bound man, he was released on bail. He returned to the establishment where he had robbed a few days earlier and threatened the owner. The Mossos, then, arrested him again. The sub-inspector of the police explains that they make special devices in areas where these robberies are concentrated, but adds that it is particularly difficult to prevent opportunistic criminals because you never know where and when they will act.