A 34-year-old man was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of multiple thefts in stores located in Lisbon’s Baixa district, often involving violence, the Public Security Police (PSP) announced today.
In a statement, the Lisbon Metropolitan Command of the PSP stated that the suspect was detained in the Santa Maria Maior parish, outside of an in-flagrante offence, through a detention warrant issued by the Criminal Police Authority. The case involves three crimes of violence following subtraction and one crime of simple theft.
The man allegedly took advantage of the earlier nightfall and reduced street activity to enter different establishments in the Baixa district of Lisbon, “especially close to closing time.”
Once inside the stores, the individual would remove boxes of earphones from the shelves and leave without paying.
If confronted by employees, usually female, “the individual did not hesitate to use physical force to retain possession of the stolen items.” According to the PSP, he reportedly pushed, grabbed, and, in some cases, punched female workers at these stores, successfully escaping with the earphones without payment.
“This behavior persisted over the past days, causing insecurity and unease among the store employees involved,” added the security force in a note sent to news outlets.
In response to the situation, the PSP conducted several investigative efforts aiming to identify and locate the suspect.
The man was eventually arrested last Thursday, on Rua do Ouro, near one of the targeted stores, at a time when the PSP suspects he was preparing to commit another crime of the same nature.
The detainee was presented yesterday to the Judicial Authority for the first judicial interrogation, “where the most severe coercive measure was imposed, preventive detention.”
