Bank robbery in Palagonia: robber kidnaps those present but is arrested by the Carabinieri

There have been moments of high tension in recent days over an attempted robbery in a credit institution on Via Vittorio Emanuele, which was put to an end by the Carabinieri of the Company's Operational Unit who, with the support of their colleagues from the local Station, arrested a 54-year-old criminal from Castel di Judica (CT) red-handed because, without prejudice to the presumption of innocence of the suspects valid now and until a final conviction, he was responsible for attempted aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

It was around 09.30:30.000,00 when the man, pretending to be a normal customer with a document folder in his hand, entered the bank premises. Soon the robber, armed with a knife and an apparently rudimentary explosive device, revealed his intentions by threatening those present, around fifteen customers and employees, ordering the latter to hand over the money contained in the cash registers which, at that moment, was around XNUMX euros.

In those hectic moments, however, some customers who were preparing to enter the bank noticed from outside the people present with their hands raised and, therefore, immediately raised the alarm at 112 NUE.

Thus the emergency plan was triggered, following which the operations center of the Palagonia Company activated the patrols that were already in the area for specific anti-robbery services, thus allowing the military, in a very short time, to reach the credit institution and verify that the robber was still inside the bank.

At the time, the 54-year-old was threatening the people being held hostage, in particular the director of the agency, to whom he pointed the knife at his neck and shouted, “… You are wasting your time, I want the money, don't call the police or I will die here and we all die, I want the money and one of you is coming with me!!! …"

Seeing the arrival of the military and realizing that he was now in a tight spot, the man began to shout even more at those present, waving a lighter several times as if he wanted to activate the device. Those moments of fear were interrupted when a bank employee managed to unlock the armored entrance door, thus allowing the immediate intervention of the Carabinieri.

The investigators, in fact, taking advantage of a moment of distraction of the criminal and adopting all the operational security measures foreseen to guarantee the safety of those present, broke into the institute, disarming and immobilizing the robber. The latter was armed with a 23-centimeter-long knife and a cylindrical container wrapped in adhesive tape, which reproduced a stick of explosive, but was actually inert.

The man, who appears to already have specific criminal records for robbery, theft and drug-related offences, was immediately taken to the Caltagirone prison. at the disposal of the Judicial Authority which, on the occasion of the relative validation of the arrest, validated the act by also issuing a precautionary measure against him, following which He is still in prison.