Naples – A night of violence in the heart of Posillipo, where an argument over some Red Bull cans and water bottles escalated into a brutal attack on the owner of a business. Kicks, punches, threats, and a broken wooden chair were used, according to the Carabinieri, to attack the entrepreneur.
The incident occurred shortly before 11:00 PM yesterday at Via Petrarca, at number 107. Patrols from the Naples Mobile Radio Unit responded to the scene, alerted by the operations center after a report of an alleged fight reached 112. Once they arrived at the location, however, the officers reconstructed a different scenario: not a fight between several people, but the violent act of a single man.
Drinks taken from the fridge and refusal to pay
According to the reconstruction, the 36-year-old—a Dutch citizen originally from the Dominican Republic—arrived at the shop in a BMW 5 Series with Dutch license plates. After getting out of the car, he entered the shop and headed toward the refrigerator.
He allegedly took some cans of Red Bull and some bottles of water. At the time, the owner was outside the business, while his partner was inside. The woman allegedly asked the man to pay for the amount he had taken. This request, according to testimonies collected by the Carabinieri, triggered the customer's reaction.
The man allegedly started yelling, resisting payment. When the owner intervened to demand payment for the drinks, the 36-year-old allegedly threatened him: "I've never paid anyone. If you don't shut up, I'll beat you to death."
The attack and the destroyed chair
Words apparently escalated quickly to physical violence. The shopkeeper was allegedly attacked with a barrage of kicks and punches. The attacker, not satisfied, then grabbed a wooden chair in the shop, breaking it and throwing it against a wall.
At that point, according to the investigative reconstruction, the owner was allegedly struck several times with fragments of the chair. The entrepreneur's partner also reportedly experienced moments of fear in the shop, but she and the victim managed to escape the attack and barricade themselves in another room.
But the man's fury continued. From outside, he continued to threaten the two, ordering them to leave and uttering intimidating phrases like, "Come out or I'll kill you." He then targeted the front door of the business, damaging it before fleeing in the BMW with the stolen drinks.
The hunt for the BMW and the arrest
The victims provided the Carabinieri with a description of their attacker and, more importantly, the license plate of the getaway car. From there, the search began, coordinated by the operations center of the Naples Carabinieri Provincial Command.
The BMW was last seen in the Via Mergellina area. A patrol from the Mobile Radio Unit, already conducting checks in that area, intercepted the car and stopped it shortly thereafter on Via Dohrn.
Inside the car, which was seized for further investigation, officers allegedly found five empty Red Bull cans. The 36-year-old was arrested on robbery charges and transferred to prison, pending further judicial action.
Seven days of prognosis for the trader
The business owner was treated. Paramedics gave him a seven-day prognosis for a bruised left wrist, non-concussive head trauma with hematomas in the galea capitis, and a fractured nasal bone.
A heavy toll for an incident that began, according to what has been reconstructed so far, from a refusal to pay for a few drinks and escalated into an assault that shook one of the busiest areas of Posillipo.
Details on the attack in Posillipo
Here are some key points regarding the attack that occurred in Posillipo.
- Location of the episode: Via Petrarca, number 107, Posillipo, Naples.
- Time of the attack: Just before 23am.
- Type of attack: Kicks, punches and the use of a wooden chair as a weapon.
- Victim's Condition: Seven-day prognosis for bruises and trauma.
- Attacker arrested: A 36-year-old Dutch man arrested on charges of robbery.
