The Mossos d'Esquadra arrested a 22-year-old young man on October 26 in Barcelona as the alleged perpetrator of robberies with violence against taxi drivers, vulnerable people and in hotels, and for sometimes posing as a police officer.
The Generalitat Police specifically accuse the detainee of a total of seven crimes of robbery with violence or intimidation, crimes of injury, usurpation of public functions, theft, fraud and two robberies in hotels in the Ciutat Vella district.
According to what the Mossos d'Esquadra reported this Tuesday, the victims were vulnerable people either because of their physical complexion or because they were of advanced age, and also four taxi drivers, from whom he violently robbed.
In two of the robberies, the suspect also posed as a police officer to gain the initial trust of his victims.
The detainee, who was arrested by agents from the Investigation Unit of the Horta-Guinardò police station in Barcelona, always took advantage of the most appropriate moment to commit the robbery so that the victim could not defend himself, and did not hesitate to cause injuries if the situation required it.
The police investigation began from a series of complaints about violent robberies committed with similar characteristics, between August 17 and October 25, and in which the description of the perpetrator matched in all cases.
The victims had described the suspect as a young person, between 20 and 25 years old, tall, approximately 1.80 meters, and who always appeared very violent at the time of committing the robberies.
The detainee committed the first of the robberies, on August 17, in a private parking lot in Baix Guinardò, where he robbed on two other occasions in subsequent days, and then continued his criminal activity against taxi drivers and citizens.
In one of those cases in which he robbed a taxi driver, the detainee got into the vehicle and claimed to be an agent of the Mossos d'Esquadra and even showed an identification plate.
The suspect then told the taxi driver to take him to the Gràcia district police station, where he got off for a few minutes, and after returning to the car, they continued the race, a moment that the thief took advantage of to take out a knife and threaten his victim.
Days later, he also pretended to be a Mossos agent after getting into a taxi in Plaza Cataluña, whose worker he robbed.
He is also accused of a violent robbery during the Mercè festivities, when he assaulted a pedestrian who was returning home and stole his cell phone.
In addition to these robberies against taxi drivers and citizens, the detainee also allegedly robbed two hotels in Ciutat Vella on September 20 and October 3, in which he used the same modus opernadi: he offered his help to tourists who were leaving the reception. from the hotel to get a taxi.
Once they had left, he would enter the reception and claim to be a friend of the people staying at the hotel, thus asking for a copy of the room key, claiming that they had forgotten something inside.
Once inside the room, he allegedly stole suitcases and valuables as well as credit cards that he used to make fraudulent purchases.
