Highway robbers loose in the Balearics

THE National Police are warning of highway robbers after the first case was registered last week. Thieves throw a stone or sharp object at the wheels of a vehicle while it is travelling so as to cause a punctured tire and make the driver stop at the side of the road. Once the car is stopped they attack the driver and hijack the car.

In last week’s case the victim was a woman who was attacked by two men of ‘Arab origin’. One hit her and stole the jewellery she was wearing, while the other took her handbag, before making off in her car.

This method is similar to one that has previously been used in car parks of shopping centres when the thieves would stop drivers to ask for directions or offer help to repair a flat tire as a distraction while an accomplice steals what is in the passenger seat or boot.

By Nicole Hallett