National Police officers have thwarted two robberies with force attempted on Saturday afternoon, 8th August, arresting two men caught in the act. The suspects, aged 66 and 35, were detained as the alleged perpetrators of separate break-ins, one of which occurred at an occupied residence in Arenales del Sol and the other at a municipal nursery school in Elche.
The first incident took place in a residential estate in Arenales del Sol, where an off-duty National Police officer was at home when he heard a female neighbour shouting his name and asking for help. A man had attempted to enter her property while her underage daughter and grandmother were inside.
The officer immediately ran to the floor of the break-in, where he found two neighbours restraining a man. Identifying himself as a National Police officer, he secured the scene and performed a security search, discovering several plastic strips—commonly used for the slipping lock technique—and a screwdriver on the suspect.
Statements gathered from the victim and neighbours revealed that the man had been ringing the doorbell repeatedly. When the young girl went to open the door, she found that the man had already forced it open from the outside. She pushed back against the door to stop the intruder from gaining full entry before alerting her mother, who was at the communal swimming pool at the time.
The mother alerted other residents, and two neighbours went upstairs, intercepting the man who was holding a piece of X-ray film. To escape, the intruder sprayed both neighbours with a defence spray and struck one of them. Despite the attack, they held him until the off-duty officer arrived with handcuffs. The suspect was arrested for robbery with force in an occupied dwelling, while the two injured neighbours required medical attention for spray inhalation.
A few hours later, a second break-in was reported at a nursery school in the central area of Elche. The president of the parent-teacher association called the 091 CIMACC control room after seeing a man scale the perimeter fence and attempt to enter the building.
Two plainclothes officers on duty arrived at the scene within three minutes. After discreetly searching the exterior grounds, they discovered a man matching the description at the rear of the site trying to climb through a kitchen window. He was intercepted and arrested for robbery with force.
Thanks to public collaboration and prompt police action in both interventions, the alleged perpetrators were caught on the same afternoon. Both detainees have been handed over to the duty court in Elche.
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