L'Hospitalet de Llobregat is at the centre of a police investigation after Mossos d'Esquadra arrested a 22-year-old man on 29 May over a series of gold chain robberies in the Santa Eulàlia neighbourhood.
According to the Catalan police, the suspect is accused of targeting elderly women, including people with physical limitations, and stealing chains from their necks while using an electric scooter. The arrest was announced on 14 June.
The Group of Serial Offenders, known as KANPAI, from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Southern Metropolitan Police Region, attributes two completed violent robberies, two attempted robberies and three minor injury offences to the suspect. Police said the investigation began after detectives detected a rise in violent robberies involving electric scooters in Santa Eulàlia.
Investigators said the incidents followed a similar pattern and matched the same description of the alleged offender. Working with the Urban Delinquency Group, GDU, at the local police station, officers identified the suspect and arrested him nine days later.
Police said his method was to ride the electric scooter on the pavement until he found a potential victim, then approach from behind, snatch the gold chain and leave on the scooter. Three victims suffered minor injuries.
The arrest forms part of Plan Bastion 2026, the wider police operation against crime. Mossos said violent robberies of this type in Santa Eulàlia have fallen since the detention. The suspect appeared before the duty investigating court in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat after his arrest.
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