Policoro: Armed robberies at a restaurant-bar and a petrol station, 3 arrests

The Carabinieri of the Policoro Company, at the end of a detailed investigation coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Matera, have arrested, in execution of an order implementing a personal precautionary measure issued by the Preliminary Investigations Judge of the local Court, two men of Adelfia already known to the Police, a 43 year old and a 28 year old, as well as a 23 year old of Nova Siri (MT), against which the following have been the crimes of attempted aggravated robbery, aggravated robbery, illegal possession and carrying of weapons were hypothesized, all in conjunction with each other.

The contested facts refer to the very serious criminal events that occurred on the night of 25 January 2024 in Policoro, when, at 01:50, three robbers with their faces covered, at least one of them armed with a gun, with the help of a couple assigned the task of "lookout" on board an SUV, they attempted to break into a restaurant-bar, failing in the attempt due to the victim's prompt reaction, who, having noticed their presence and their intentions, re-entered the business shouting that he was calling the Carabinieri, forcing the robbers to flee hastily.

Undaunted, the same robbers, at the following 02:30, they were going to a service area of Policoro and, after preliminary inspections by the "lookouts" on board the aforementioned SUV, three of them with their faces covered by balaclavas, at least two of whom were armed with pistols, they broke in, reaching the petrol station near the fuel distributor booth and, after surrounding him, They violently pulled him, hitting him on the back of the neck, making him lose his balance; while the victim was on the ground, on his knees, under the threat of weapons, they took possession of his wallet containing his identity documents, his driving licence as well as cash in total amount of approximately 1.400,00 euros, immediately fleeing. Immediately after the events, the Carabinieri of the Policoro Company arrived on site and, after carrying out accurate technical surveys on the crime scene, began the investigations.

The collection of information from the victims, the viewing and subsequent accurate analysis of the images captured by various public and private video surveillance systems in the area, integrated with the analysis of telephone and telematic traffic of various mobile phone users and the outcome of the various observation, control and electronic shadowing services carried out by the Carabinieri of the Operational Unit of the Policoro Company, have allowed us to identify a suspicious SUV that had refueled shortly before the robbery at the gas station. The in-depth investigation carried out thanks to the databases used by the Police Forces on the vehicle allowed us to identify the users, that is, the arrested couple and, subsequently, the accomplice. Once the ritual formalities have been completed, the 43-year-old was transferred to the Matera prison, the 28-year-old was sent to the Foggia prison where he was already being held for other crimes, while the woman was placed under house arrest with a remote electronic monitoring system (electronic bracelet).