After a police chase on the roads of the Zaragoza province in Spain, the Civil Guard arrested three men, including Cubans, who were allegedly part of a gang dedicated to stealing using the “seeding method,” a distraction technique employed to remove belongings from the inside of victims' vehicles, authorities reported this Tuesday.
According to an official statement cited by the local press, on January 13, the Civil Guard Emergency Center in La Almunia de Doña Godina received a report of a handbag theft in the parking lot of a supermarket in the area.
The suspects used the modus operandi of "the planting," documented in numerous cases in Spain, which involves one or more criminals distracting a person by throwing an object on the ground to grab their attention, prompting them to exit the vehicle or look away. Taking advantage of the victim's unpreparedness, the thieves quickly steal their belongings from inside the car.
Officers from the Civil Guard in La Almunia, after identifying the characteristics of the vehicle used by the suspected perpetrators of the robbery, were able to locate it. However, when they attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver ignored the stop signals and fled at high speed, performing reckless maneuvers both in urban areas and on the A-2 highway, endangering the occupants of other vehicles on the road.
While chasing the car, the officers confirmed that three men were traveling in it.
The driver of the car made multiple improper overtakes, sudden braking, and several attempts to exit the highway at different exits. Finally, he entered an unpaved road but, unable to proceed, reversed and rammed into the patrol car to push it off the road and continue fleeing.
However, the maneuver proved unsuccessful, and the individuals had to abandon the vehicle and flee on foot. Two of them were captured by agents from the Civil Guard station in the town of Épila, who joined the operation, while the third was arrested hours later by a traffic police patrol in Calatayud, at a service area on the A-2 motorway.
During the suspects' car registration, authorities recovered stolen items: two mobile phones, a wallet, and a pair of prescription glasses, linked to the reported theft in La Almunia and another similar incident that occurred earlier in the town of La Muela.
The arrested individuals are three men aged between 25 and 55, of Cuban and Peruvian nationality, and with a significant criminal record, stated the Civil Guard. One of them had an arrest warrant, and another had a deportation order.
The individuals, whose names have not been published, are accused of theft, disobedience to law enforcement officers, and membership in a criminal organization. The driver was also charged with reckless driving and damage to an official vehicle.
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