Milano, train thefts: 5 people arrested

Milano, train thefts and resistance: the State Police arrests 5 people.

The Railway Police of Milano, following a thorough investigation, yesterday carried out a precautionary custody order in prison against 4 foreign citizens, two Libyans and two Algerians, believed to be the authors of a series of thefts perpetrated on trains in the Lombardy capital, between July and November 2019.

Thanks to the analysis of the modus operandi of the 4 men and the image extrapolated from the video surveillance circuit, the police managed to identify the criminal group that had targeted travellers, mostly foreign tourists, on board the convoys between the stations of Milano Centrale, Lambrate and Pioltello.

There were around twenty thefts carried out, all using the same technique: while one distracted the victim, the other took advantage of the situation to steal the luggage and escape. Two of them, of Algerian nationality, one aged 24 and the other 39 years old, were already detained in the San Vittore prison for other crimes while the other 2 accomplices, of Libyan nationality, were tracked down by the Polfer agents in a guest house of Milano. During the search, the police found some false French identity documents, 700 euros, a wallet with Chinese and Russian banknotes and a valuable watch for which they were reported stolen. Together with them, a third compatriot was found, unrelated to the investigation, reported because he was not in compliance with the law in the national territory.

Always a Milano, at the Central Station, a 26-year-old foreigner was arrested last night for resistance and violence against a public official. The man tried to forcefully enter through the gates without a ticket and, having been invited to leave for the first time, he reappeared shortly afterwards with a hostile and threatening attitude. After taking off the shirt he was wearing, he attempted a physical confrontation first with the company protection staff present at the gates and then with the Polfer officers. The police managed, after a brief struggle, to stop the man who turned out to be no stranger to episodes of this kind; a few days earlier, in fact, he had already been arrested for the same crime in the Verona Porta Nuova station.