Three men arrested for suspected violent muggings in El Ejido

THREE men suspected of carrying out violent muggings in El Ejido have been arrested.
Police detained the three after two people were targeted by robbers while walking down Calle Lisboa de Santa Maria de Aguila.
One of the attackers held a knife to a victim’s throat, injuring them in the process. Another threatened the pair with a gun and managed to snatch a mobile phone.
Information from the victims and from witnesses led police officers to one of the suspected muggers just minutes later. The other two managed to get away, but police caught up with them within hours after they got involved in a fight.
Police said they suspected the three, all of Moroccan origin and all in their early twenties, were responsible for several other similar crimes in the area.
In one case in May, two young men on a motor scooter went into a woman walking hand-in-hand with her two-year old son and threatened her with a knife. They demanded she give them everything she had.
Between sobs she handed over her handbag containing all her personal documentation and €200 in cash, as well as her wedding ring, watch and a gold bracelet.
After the incident the victim was treated for wounds to her neck and right hand and for anxiety.
In a third case last month, a restaurant owner was set upon by two individuals in the early hours as he was closing up his premises in Calle La Parra. One of the attackers leapt on the victim and began beating him. He stole the more than €2,100 day’s taking, some of the restaurant’s personal documents and a credit card.