The Mossos d’Esquadra have arrested four men, between 40 and 68 years old, in Ponts, in La Noguera (Lleida), as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of belonging to a criminal group, vehicle theft and damage.
The detainees supposedly formed a group specialized in the method called ‘tire punctures’ that operated throughout Catalonia.
The police arrested them last Tuesday in La Seu d’Urgell shortly after receiving a complaint from a couple who were victims of their modus operandi.
The events occurred last Tuesday, when the couple withdrew money from a bank in La Seu d’Urgell. Then, they both got into their vehicle and shortly after starting the journey they realized that they had a flat tire.
When they got out of the car to check the breakdown, a citizen approached them to offer his help, who talked with them for a while to gain the trust of the victims. He then told them that he was going to pick up some tools from his vehicle to help them change the tire.
However, the man fled in a vehicle that was at the top of the street. The victims became suspicious and, upon looking inside their car, they realized that a bag with the money had been stolen.
It happened in front of the bus station and the victims received help from citizens. They immediately reported the robbery to the Mossos d’Esquadra with the description provided by victims and witnesses of the perpetrator of the theft and the vehicle with which he had fled.
Immediately, the police set up a search device, alerting the police stations closest to the scene of the incident. This allowed, shortly after, a citizen security patrol that had set up a checkpoint on C-14, in the municipality of Ponts, to stop a vehicle with four occupants.
During the search, they found a bag with 2,815 euros hidden in the trunk, which fully coincided with the amount that the couple had reported had been stolen from them. For this reason, the four occupants were arrested as alleged perpetrators of theft and damage.
The efforts of the ABP Alt Urgell Investigation Unit made it possible to verify that the four detainees, coming from the metropolitan area, had already been involved in different events of the same type in Catalonia, which demonstrates a specialization in these types of thefts known as ‘ puncture tires’, and also in other modalities such as the theft of the ‘sowing’ and the theft of the ‘spot’.
Given these indications, they were also accused of the crime of belonging to a criminal group for allegedly being part of an organized network that committed thefts in a specialized way, sustained over time and that was a way of life for the four.
The detainees, two of whom had criminal records, were brought to justice yesterday before the investigating court acting as guard of La Seu d’Urgell.
