Bag-snatching in Imola: man on bicycle arrested after car pursuit
A man of Croatian origin was arrested in Imola on 6 July for stealing a bag from an elderly woman. The victim followed him by car until she encountered a Police patrol.
Stopped in flagrante near a roundabout: bag returned to victim
Google News IT — Crime (it) reports that the State Police of Bologna arrested on Monday 6 July a man of Croatian origin, born in 1978, considered responsible for aggravated theft by sleight of hand against the detriment of an elderly woman born in 1944 in Imola.
The incident began in the vicinity of a water dispenser in Via Pirandello, where the suspect, riding a bicycle, allegedly stole the bag from the woman. Upon realising the theft, the victim decided to follow the man with her own car, maintaining visual contact until she encountered a patrol on duty.
Meanwhile, some passersby near Via Zappi had already alerted officers from the Imola Police Station, reporting a man on a bicycle with a newly stolen bag. The officers intercepted the subject at the roundabout at Via Boccaccio, at the intersection with Via Zappi, and during the check found the stolen goods hanging from the bicycle handlebars. The elderly woman subsequently identified the man as the perpetrator of the theft.
The arrested man is already known to law enforcement for offences against property committed using similar methods, often targeting elderly people. Following the immediate trial proceedings, the judge ordered house arrest for him.
The bag, containing personal documents, payment cards and cash, was entirely recovered and returned to its owner.
The State Police recalls that the proceedings are in the preliminary investigation phase and that criminal liability is only established by a final conviction sentence.
Source: Google News IT — Crime (it)