More than four years ago, a man robbed several banks in the canton of Lucerne and stole a lot of money. More than 70,000 francs. Now the handcuffs clicked – on the beach. The Italian has been arrested in the Spanish city of Benidorm, reports “Zentralplus”. Simon Kopp of the Lucerne Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to Blick that the man was arrested on September 22 “on the basis of our international arrest warrant”.
As the Spanish portal “El Periódico” writes, the local police became aware of the man because he behaved conspicuously when he noticed patrolling police officers. The officials then conducted a routine check to identify the man and found that a warrant for his arrest had been issued.
The man is said to have provided little cooperation during the arrest and even kicked. According to the Spanish media, he would be 30 years old and already have a criminal record in Spain.
Preference for Raiffeisen banks
As Simon Kopp told Blick, the man is suspected of committing three bank robberies in 2018 in Ebikon and Emmen in Lucerne. That’s why he got an arrest warrant.
On April 24, 2018, the young man attacked a Raiffeisen facility in Ebikon. The suspect, who was armed with a handgun, stole money and fled. About a month later – on May 22, 2018 – a second attack on the same site in Ebikon followed. Again, the perpetrator threatened the employees with a gun and demanded cash. Here too the criminal was able to escape.
On July 27, 2018, the man struck in the neighboring municipality of Emmen. Another Raiffeisen branch. Once again, everything went according to plan for the bank robber. As “El Periódico” reports, a total of the equivalent of 71,000 francs was allegedly stolen in the raids. The Italian apparently did not act alone. He allegedly committed the crimes with an accomplice.
While the man is now in custody pending his extradition in Spain, the Luzern prosecutor’s office is investigating. It is not yet known when the suspect will be transferred to Switzerland. (Man)