National Police officers have arrested a man of Moroccan origin as the alleged perpetrator of a violent robbery. Officers from the National Police Robbery Unit in Palma investigated a robbery with violence that took place last Wednesday near the Plaza de la Reina in Palma, when a couple of tourists were approached by an individual with the intention of stealing a high-end watch worn by the man.
In the complaint filed, the man reported that at around 11 p.m. on Wednesday, he was with his companion near Plaza de la Reina when, at one point, a young man suddenly lunged at him from behind, grabbing his left hand and trying to steal the watch he was wearing on his right hand.
Given the victim’s resistance, the young man began to assault him, punching him in the back and face, hitting him on the left cheekbone, causing him to fall to the ground. The assailant continued the assault by kicking him in the chest and back. In an attempt to restrain his attacker, the tourist grabbed him tightly by his clothes and by a rucksack he was carrying, but the thief finally broke free and ran away with the stolen watch, valued at more than €56,000.
After treating the man for his injuries, the couple went to the National Police station, where they filed a report. The man handed over the alleged perpetrator’s rucksack, inside which a mobile phone was found. Officers from the Complaints Office at the National Police Central Station carried out the initial investigations and, as a result of their inquiries, it was confirmed that the alleged perpetrator was about to leave Palma on a flight to Barcelona. A plan was put in place to locate and arrest the alleged perpetrator and recover the stolen watch.
The officers verified that the alleged perpetrator had boarded the flight to Barcelona, checking in his hand luggage in a hurry after the robbery, presumably with the clear intention of fleeing from the police, and that he was carrying the stolen watch among his belongings.
The Judicial Police Group at Josep Tarradellas Airport, Barcelona-El Prat, was alerted by the Robbery Group in Palma about the steps taken to fully identify the alleged perpetrator and obtain incriminating evidence. With the flight’s imminent arrival in Barcelona, a plan was put in place to locate, identify and, if necessary, arrest him.
Once the flight landed at Barcelona airport, National Police officers carried out a passenger check and located the alleged perpetrator. The man did not have the stolen watch among his belongings, so the officers assumed that he might have hidden it inside the aircraft. For this reason, the police entered the aircraft and searched the seat where the man was sitting. The National Police officers managed to locate the watch hidden under the seat and proceeded to seize it for delivery to its rightful owner.
During the inspection of his belongings, five caps were found, presumably used at different times to avoid being identified while committing the crime, and a personal defence spray, presumably to facilitate escape in case of resistance. The man was arrested as the alleged perpetrator of a violent robbery and brought before the court in Barcelona.