Two men, aged 22 and 49, have been arrested by the Polícia Judiciária (PJ) on strong suspicions of committing aggravated robbery, kidnapping, and qualified theft in Oliveira de Azeméis.
The authorities stated in a communiqué received on Thursday that the incident dates back to July 18, when the suspects, along with two other individuals, executed a plan targeting the property of the victim, an 80-year-old man, who is therefore considered particularly vulnerable.
On that day, the four men entered the octogenarian’s residence where he lived alone and took money and goods valued at thousands of euros.
For more than three hours, during which the assailants remained inside the residence, the victim was tied up and gagged to prevent any attempts at reaction or seeking help, the PJ clarified.
Two days later, the suspects realized that they had not managed to seize all the valuable objects in the residence and returned to the location.
Not yet satisfied, the four men returned to the site once again on July 27, at which time two of them were caught red-handed and arrested by PJ officers. These first two detainees are now in preventive custody.
Two men were detained for carrying out aggravated robbery, kidnapping, and qualified theft after they assaulted the residence of an 80-year-old man three times. On one occasion, the elderly man was kept “tied up and gagged” for three hours.
According to the PJ, “on all three occasions, the suspects removed items valued at tens of thousands of euros from the house.”
The detainees have criminal records and will be presented to the competent judicial authority for a judicial interrogation and the application of appropriate preventive measures.
