A chilling phone call in the middle of the night, just hours before the anniversary of women's rights. "I'll kill you," he yelled at his ex-partner on the other end of the line, before taking to the streets armed and ready to turn those words into tragedy.
What could have been yet another tragedy was averted by the timely intervention of the Avellino police, who intercepted and disarmed a forty-year-old man already known to law enforcement.
The race against time
The alarm was raised immediately after the telephone threat. The Irpinia Police Headquarters' Operations Room had to manage a major emergency, deploying two patrol cars simultaneously to block the attacker's every maneuver. A patrol rushed to the woman's home to secure the house and ensure her immediate protection.
Meanwhile, the second team began tracking the man. Technology was crucial to his capture, as the forty-year-old, already under special surveillance, was wearing an electronic bracelet. The tracking signals allowed officers to pinpoint his exact location on Via Generale Cascino, as he wandered the streets of the Irpinia capital.
The attack and the knife
Upon seeing the uniforms, the man realized he was trapped and clumsily attempted to remove the weapon he was carrying: a large, 33-centimeter-long kitchen knife. The attempt to disarm and restrain him, however, turned into a violent struggle. The man put up fierce resistance, kicking and striking two officers.
To safely subdue him, the officers were forced to use the pepper spray provided. Despite the pepper spray, the forty-year-old continued to struggle with unprecedented violence. He kicked out the window of the police car, all the while spewing out new death threats against the officers, their wives, and his ex-partner.
The night of madness ended with the man's arrest, who is now under house arrest at the disposal of the Avellino Public Prosecutor's Office. The charges against him are particularly serious: he faces charges of stalking, illegal possession and carrying of a knife, resisting arrest and assaulting a public official, as well as aggravated damage to a state vehicle.
The two officers injured during the frantic arrest required hospital treatment. This grim outcome once again underscores the daily risks faced by law enforcement in the fight against gender-based violence.
A night like this, it's very bad, I don't know what to say, the person yelled 'I'll kill you' and then luckily the police intervened, the officers did their job, but there are many issues, the control system with the electronic bracelet didn't prevent everything, the woman should have been protected before, I just hope that everything is resolved and that the cuffs are okay.