With nearly half a hundred convictions each in their criminal history, the pair of robbers had specialized in assaulting Barcelona hotel receptions at knifepoint. The guild was very worried. In these first months of the year alone, the two men had raided seven establishments; some blows that were executed in a matter of seconds, with a lot of verbal and physical violence, if necessary, and demanding anything that was at hand at the reception.
The proliferation of robberies led to the creation of a working group made up of police officers from the investigation units of Eixample, Grà cia and Sarrià -Sant Gervasi. Based on the police work, it was possible to identify one of the assailants, Jonathan H. C., a 37-year-old Spaniard. Last weekend, the investigators designed an operation to arrest them, with officers from the three investigative units and with the support of the fura (plain-clothes agents specialized in urban crime) from Barcelona and the active search group for fugitives . Led by the corporal in charge of investigation of Sarrià -Sant Gervasi, about twenty policemen, on motorcycles, police vehicles without a logo and even on foot at some point, took up positions on Friday from seven in the afternoon.
The investigators had located Jonathan in an apartment in Born and started a discreet surveillance around until the man appeared, looking all around and in a vigilant attitude, with the white helmet he had used to hide his face in the last robberies. He quickly got into a Honda SH 300 that had been reported stolen and drove off, which mobilized the cops who were following him.
The suspect drove to the neighborhood of Can Baró, parked and managed to enter some buildings connected by internal courtyards, where they lost sight of him. While some cops were watching the motorcycle waiting for his return, others discovered driving at high speed another Honda SH 125 with two individuals who, despite not being able to be identified, were wearing, one, a white helmet identical to Jonathan’s and , the other, a black one. The person in charge of the operation decided to follow the vehicle while it was confirmed through the license plate that the motorcycle belonged to Jesús C.R., a 35-year-old Spaniard with numerous theft records, the vast majority of which involved violence.
The suspects went back to look for the first motorcycle, the stolen one, and set course for the Eixample, driving with no apparent destination but intentionally slowing down every time they passed near a hotel. The vehicle was traveling at high speed, disregarding the traffic lights and even on the pavement to change the direction of travel. They stopped for a few seconds on Carrer Diputació, between Pau Claris and Passeig de Grà cia. When the Mossos located them again, the motorcycle was traveling through Consell de Cent and a 112 operator was reporting on the radio that two individuals wearing motorcycle helmets had robbed a hotel on Carrer Diputació.
At that moment it was agreed to arrest them, although trying to minimize risks for the police and the suspects. The vehicles went to Pedralbes. They lost them again near the Sofia hotel and after a few minutes the room reported a new robbery at a hotel, from where they broke off and took a small safe.
A policeman on a motorcycle pulled up alongside and ordered them to stop, but the suspects rammed the policeman’s motorcycle from the side until he fell. The chase ended with the suspects’ motorbike colliding with the car of the head of the operation, which crossed on his way. However, the two individuals got up and ran out, and when they were caught, they fought back with kicks and punches. They were booked into jail without bail on Sunday.
There were 2,500 euros in the safe, which they failed to open and which the hotel manager recovered on Sunday, as she told La Vanguardia herself. About 300 euros were taken from the first establishment. Three policemen were injured.
