Guardia Civil from the Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria (Mogán) Main Post have arrested a 54-year-old, with various prior police records, for an alleged ten crimes of robbery with force, committed inside homes located in the south of Gran Canaria, from which he may have obtained a booty of approximately €40,000.
The investigations began last October 2021, after a complaint regarding an alleged robbery with force at a house in the southern resort town of Puerto Rico de Gran Canaria. However, following that crime, various criminal acts with the similar characteristics began to come to light, that is, they were committed during the same time periods, using a ladder or similar to access the houses by climbing through windows or on to balconies, and when the perpetrator could not access through those means, he kicked doors with enough force to cause them to open.
The Guardia Civil detected a series of indications that always pointed to the same person, apparently corresponding to a middle-aged man who wore clothing and outfits similar to those commonly used by the tourist population, making it extremely difficult for him to be identified in this area.
The frequency of home robberies increased considerably from mid-April, where the alleged perpetrator committed up to four home robberies in the same week, the very last being on April 28, at two homes in the area of Patalavaca.
During these robberies, the alleged perpetrator managed to gain access to a house from which he stole jewellery and a smartwatch, also attempting to access a second home, before he was surprised by a neighbour, a fact that motivated his escape by jumping the fences of a nearby apartment complex, to later flee down a steep slope towards the town of Arguineguín, the witness observed that he had a fairly pronounced limp when getting away.
As a result of the investigations carried out to date and the evidence collected by the Guardia Civil, a suspect was later located at the Emergency Department of a hospital located in Meloneras, where he was receiving medical attention for a broken bone in his foot. The suspect was arrested, as the alleged perpetrator of the earlier theft, and was found to be carrying among his belongings the watch and rings previously stolen, as well as a mobile phone that could be directly related, there and then, to a criminal act. The detainee’s involvement in various other criminal acts has not been ruled out, all of which are still in the investigation phase.
The Guardia Civil made a corresponding police report that was delivered together with the detainee to the Duty Courts of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, which decreed his immediate admission to prison to await trial.
