A 62-year-old man has been charged with seven counts of aggravated theft, two counts of violence following theft, and three counts of attempted aggravated assault. He has been placed in preventive detention, as announced by the Attorney General’s Office on Friday.
In a statement posted on its website, the Public Prosecutor of the Comarca de Lisboa Oeste disclosed that the man was brought before a judicial hearing on March 26. The investigation strongly suggests that “from an unspecified date prior to May 2021, either alone or in collaboration with others, he engaged in appropriating goods and money from individuals or businesses in the Mafra and Lisbon areas.”
To carry out these crimes, the man would enter commercial establishments and remove “various objects from the shelves,” concealing them “inside the clothing he was wearing.” He would then leave the premises without paying.
On two occasions, store security staff “became aware of the situation” and confronted the suspect, “demanding the return of the stolen goods,” but they were “threatened with a sharp object resembling a knife.”
The prosecution added, “In one of these incidents, the defendant entered a vehicle to make his escape, attempting to run over the victims beforehand.”
The man had previously been convicted “several times” for theft-related offenses. Following his initial judicial hearing, he was placed under preventive detention.
