Caserta – Police have captured five members of the violent gang that robbed the Deutsche Bank in Caserta last March and then, after ramming and destroying a patrol car, injuring two officers, fled to the Balkans.
A sixth accomplice had already been stopped in July at the Trieste border crossing while attempting to re-enter Italy with a false document.
The international operation, which started at dawn between Sarajevo and Visoko, is the final point of a complex investigation by the Flying Squad of Caserta, coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Santa Maria Capua Vetere and conducted in synergy with the Central Service for International Police Cooperation and the SIPA special units of the Bosnian Police.
The coup and the bloody escape
It was the night of March 22nd when the six bandits, driving a car with stolen license plates and wearing balaclavas, broke into the Via Bosco branch. They made a lightning move: they seized the night cash register and attempted to escape.
Almost immediately, however, a State Police patrol car intercepts them and attempts to block the road. The robbers' reaction is incredibly violent: they strike and deliberately ram the patrol car, destroying it. The impact and subsequent hand-to-hand combat result in two officers being injured (with a prognosis of 10 days).
In a gesture of extreme courage, one of the two officers, despite his injuries, managed to tear the balaclava off one of the attackers, seeing his face. That face would be the first, crucial, identity for the investigators.
Forced to abandon their damaged car and their loot (the loot continues), the bandits are rescued by another car carrying two accomplices, who have already been identified and reported. One of the six, however, in the commotion, fails to get in and, caught on security cameras, flees alone, boarding a train at Caserta station.
The trail of the nomad camps and the escape to Bosnia
The investigations of the Caserta Flying Squad – led by director Dario Mongiovì with officials Massimiliano Mormone and Gianluca Tuccillo – immediately focused on the discovery of the second car, abandoned and set on fire in Giugliano in Campania.
The investigation led to the identification of the six members of the gang: all residents of nomad camps in the Naples area, already known to law enforcement for a serious history of property and personal crimes. A crucial fact emerged: on the evening of the robbery, the group had already left Italy, seeking refuge in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
On the basis of these serious indications, the Prosecutor's Office requested and obtained from the investigating judge of the Court of Santa Maria Capua Vetere a precautionary custody order for all six for the crime of aggravated robbery.
The words of the magistrates
"This operation is important for the complex investigative work of the State Police, but also for the courage shown by the two officers who tried to stop the bandits and were injured. They are examples for our young people," said Prosecutor Pierpaolo Bruni during a press conference.
Deputy Prosecutor Carmine Renzulli emphasized the brutality of the act: "In order to escape, they didn't hesitate to run over the patrol car, injuring the officers. They demonstrated they had no scruples whatsoever."
The five arrested in Bosnia, whose ages range between 21 and 45, will now await extradition proceedings in prison to be brought back to Italy to answer their charges.
Article published by Giuseppe Del Gaudio on August 26, 2025, at 13:21 PM
Comments (1)
It's incredible how a gang of criminals could organize such a complex and violent heist. Law enforcement deserves to be applauded for their work, but we must ask ourselves why people still commit such crimes.