As if it were timed, In less than 60 seconds, nearly 20 diners were victims of a violent robbery that included firearms and blows. in a gastronomic establishment in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Almagro this Wednesday night, according to City Police sources. THE NATION. The video of the assault that went viral on the networks was recorded by a security camera of the Jaimito pizzeria, located at 3402 México Street between Virrey Liniers and Maza. One victim told THE NATION the dramatic assault and said some people managed to escape; “I focused on making sure he didn’t shoot, hit or do something,” he added.
Around 9pm Yesterday, between 20 and 30 customers were dining at any time. Four criminals entered the premises with firearms. Two of them entered through the front door and two others through the back door.
The desperation that the diners felt at the moment is reflected in the video. Some bowed their heads and sat still in their seats. Others managed to escape through a third door that was very close to their table. There were also those who slowly hid under the tables.
As the seconds passed, The criminals walked around the tables threatening customers with their weapons and demanding that they hand over their belongings.. The diners quickly handed over their cell phones and wallets, among other things.
Seconds before leaving, Two of the criminals beat two people, stole the cash register and fled with the proceeds. Around 10 p.m., members of the Neighborhood Police Station 5B of the City Police received a report alerting them to the presence of four criminals who were assaulting diners at the pizzeria.
The officers immediately rushed to the scene without being able to find the criminals, who had fled. As far as he could know THE NATIONthe four escaped along México Street towards Sánchez de Loria, in a white Ford Fiesta car.
“The criminals acted very violently and fled with the clients’ belongings and the premises’ proceeds,” said the police sources consulted by this medium.
In addition, the Emergency Medical Care System (SAME) went to the restaurant to assist the victims. Two of them suffered injuries to the scalp and were taken to the Ramos Mejía hospital to receive the required treatment.
The investigation was carried out by the national criminal and correctional prosecutor’s office No. 57, headed by Dr. Anselmo Castelli and the sole secretariat headed by Dr. Eduardo Bossie. To find the criminals, accused of armed robbery and injuries, a survey of public and private cameras was ordered.
For his part, Christian Banett, journalistic director of the magazine Prontohe said in his official account X who was present at the robbery and who was one of the victims: “It was a horrible moment we had with some friends. There you can see me handing my cell phone and wallet to these rats.”.
The story of a victim of the dramatic assault at the Almagro pizzeria
In dialogue with THE NATION, Banett told how he experienced the situation. According to him, he and his friends had arrived at the scene shortly before the assault. “We were a group of more or less eight or nine parents who played a soccer tournament at a school that is four blocks away. We finished playing and went to eat at Jaimito, where we always go. We hadn’t even started eating, but we had ordered the drinks and had them on the table when suddenly the criminals came in,” he said.
According to the victim, the restaurant has three doors: one on México, another on Virrey Liniers and another on the corner. “The criminals separated into two and entered through two of the main doors. They were all armed”Banett described. In this sense, he assured that they came in screamingbut he didn’t remember well what they had said.
“Somehow they said ‘come on, come on, give us the cell phones, the money.’ At one point I felt like some people behind me had jumped down from the tables,” she described. And he added: “I think some girls escaped through the door through which the criminals had not entered, but later I was looking straight ahead because I had one of these kids, who were armed, five feet away. I concentrated on making sure he didn’t shoot, hit or do something.“, said.
Banett said that he gave him everything he had: his cell phone and his wallet. Also He assured that for him, the moment lasted a long timebut today when he saw the video from the security cameras he noticed that the sequence had lasted less than two minutes.
Regarding the attacks that some of the clients received, the victim stated: “When they had already left, and I got up to leave, I saw that there were some people with blood on their foreheads, they had received gunshots.”
Banett said police arrived three minutes later, when the criminals had fled the scene. “Luckily they did not arrive earlier because, unless they had waited for them outside, if a shooting occurred there, it would have been a massacre, because there were a lot of people and it is a fairly small place,” he concluded.