Cercola, couple robbed with a toy gun: two boys aged 16 and 18 arrested

There were four of them, on two scooters, with their faces covered by surgical masks and a gun in their pockets. But their plan collapsed in a few minutes. In Cercola, the Carabinieri of the local station arrested two boys, aged 16 and 18, with no criminal record, on charges of aggravated robbery, illegal possession of weapons and receiving stolen goods. They were brought down by a chase that began in Via Europa and ended in San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, in Via Panoramica Fellapane.

The two young men, riding a scooter, were noticed in a suspicious attitude along with two other accomplices. At the sight of the military they attempted to escape, but were caught and stopped. During the chase one of them threw a gun into the bushes, later recovered by the carabinieri: it was a toy gun, without the red cap, thus made indistinguishable from a real one.

Shortly after, the origin of the crime emerged. The two had just robbed a 25-year-old who was walking with his girlfriend, threatening him with the fake gun, attacking him and taking away his money and cell phone. And it was the smartphone that caught the young robbers, identified within a few hours thanks to effective investigative activity.

The two arrested were transferred, the elder to prison and the minor to a first reception center. In the meantime, attempts are being made to track down the other two accomplices, who escaped during the chase. A story that turns the spotlight back on the emergency of juvenile crime and the use of toy weapons to commit increasingly serious crimes.