The Public Security Police (PSP) arrested a 39-year-old man on August 7, caught in the act of committing a theft inside an establishment. The individual is suspected of multiple thefts in Vidigal and Pousos, in Leiria.
According to a statement released Monday by the PSP District Command of Leiria, the suspect broke into a commercial establishment around 3:00 a.m. that day. He reportedly forced a window open, entering and subsequently stealing “two laptops and six mobile phones valued at over 4,000 euros.”
“After committing the theft,” the suspect attempted to flee on foot upon noticing police presence and successfully evaded capture at that moment.
The PSP quickly mounted a police operation in the vicinity of the theft, “managing to arrest the suspect at 5:50 a.m. as he arrived at his residence.”
The stolen items from the establishment were found in his possession.
Following the suspect’s arrest, the police conducted a search of his home and a non-residential search of the vehicle used to return home, “recovering several laptops, mobile phones, and sound systems.” The recovered items had been stolen “over the past four weeks in the localities of Vidigal and Pousos.”
“Through this recovered material, it was determined that the suspect was responsible for eight additional thefts from establishments and associations, including significant hits on the Pousos Parish Center and Leiria Tennis and Padel Clubs, which were repeatedly targeted by the same suspect,” the PSP reports.
The detainee appeared for a preliminary judicial hearing on August 8 and was released, subject to periodic check-ins at the local police station and addiction treatment.
The investigation will continue “to determine other thefts recorded in the same area, supposedly committed by the detainee, through evidence collection.”
