Arrests || It was the second time in three years that robbers have mounted a concerted attack on Albufeira’s Liberto’s Disco Bar, but this time they weren’t so lucky.
As in 2011 – when the bar’s owner Liberto Mealha was brutally attacked in his home as he returned with the night’s takings in the early hours – this week’s robbery targeted the bar’s manager, again as he came home from a busy night.
A three-man gang pistol-whipped him to the ground and then tied him up inside his apartment.
According to news reports, the group then set about stealing a collection of watches and other IT items and cash, before forcing the man’s keys and key codes from him – with the intention of returning to the bar and breaking open its safe.
What they didn’t bargain for was their victim’s tenacity under fire.
Correio da Manhã describes how the man wriggled free of his bonds and sounded the alarm.
Within minutes, a GNR squad was heading to the bar where all three men were still busy. Two tried to make their escape in a car, but were stopped and are now in police custody. The third managed to evade arrest and was still on the run as we went to press.
According to CM, the two men in custody are Brazilians – one a former employee at Liberto’s, another one who was still currently employed.
This latest attack appears not to be related to any others this season in Albufeira – unlike the incident that left Liberto’s owner Mealha in a critical condition in 2011. At the time, the town was ‘under attack’ by a vicious gang that specifically went after nightclub owners.
Even so, this summer has been marked by other incidents in the holiday ‘capital’ of the Algarve (see story above).
