Three thugs who carried out a series of violent robberies on defenceless old people living alone in the Loulé district have been arrested by police.
The detained men, two brothers aged 18 and 30 and an 18-year-old relative, raided only the homes of old folk they knew could not give any resistance. The three villains nevertheless assaulted their victims irrespective of whether they were women or men.
In one case, in September last year, the trio, wearing hoods, smashed open the front door of an 80-year-old woman’s home in Cerro de Cabeça de Câmara, assaulted and tied up the helpless pensioner and then rifled the house.
They fled with money, jewels and a television. Their victim had to be treated for injuries in the local health centre.
The heartless attack followed a pattern of similar burglaries and assaults believed to have been perpetrated by the same men, over a period of several months, on homes usually in isolated rural locations in the Loulé district.
The mostrecent occurred last week on the outskirts of the town when an elderly man was attacked in his backyard, tied up and left in his garage while the masked men stole valuables from his home.
In another burglary of similar character, a house in Vale D’Éguas, Loulé, was broken into and the intruders stole a water heater after threateningthe ownerwith a penknife.
The arrest by the Diretoria do Sul da Polícia Judicária in collaboration with the GNR of Loulé followed a house search operation near the entrance of Loulé, and the authorities are confident that the principal instigators for this type of robberies are now in custody.
