Guardia Civil arrest a man who targeted elderly foreigners at service stations

The Guardia Civil has arrested a man who, with alleged perpetrators, robbed elderly foreign vehicle owners, at service stations in northern Spain.

Local newspaper Diario de Burgos reported on Sunday, March 27, that the arrested man (47) belonged to “a very active criminal group specialising in thefts in service areas, which selected its victims from among elderly couples and in foreign vehicles.”

After choosing the targets, the perpetrators are reported to operate by distracting the victims or puncturing one of the rear tyres before offering to help fix it.

Then, another accomplice steals bags, backpacks, wallets, or valuable electronic devices, from the vehicle according to sources from the Government Subdelegation.

The thefts occured in the provinces of Burgos, Castellón, and Zaragoza in service stations on the A-1, A-62 and AP7 motorways.

The total of effects and money stolen amounts to more than 10,250 euros.

Victims were targeted who were parked in areas not covered by security cameras.

Among those targeted was a family of Ukrainian refugees.

This family reported that, on March 3, when they stopped to go to the toilet and rest at a service area on the AP-7 motorway in the province of Castellón, a group of five individuals approached them to tell them that they had a flat tyre and offered to help them.

The Guardia Civil said they had  7,000 euros in cash stolen from their unlocked car along with jewellery, airline tickets, and the keys to the flat where they lived in Ukraine.

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