Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

VIDEO: Rome police bust criminal gang who targeted central hotels

Rome's police force on Sunday announced that it had dismantled a gang of thieves who targeted tourists in hotels across the city's historical centre.

Published: 24 April 2017 11:22 CEST
VIDEO: Rome police bust criminal gang who targeted central hotels
File photo showing buildings in Rome's historic centre. Photo: Cristian Bortes/Flickr

“The gang stole bags and valuable objects from hotel guests – and the modus operandi was always the same,” police said in a statement.

“A 'right-hand man' distracted the victim, while the boss, with extreme skill, stole the bag,” they explained.

The gang's members had all been previously known to police, and the head – a 46-year-old identified by police only by his initials – had already faced charged for stealing from tourists.

A police search of the man's home uncovered numerous stolen objects, including backpacks, suitcases, mobile phones, and watches.

Police also found another member of the gang, a 56-year-old, hiding in the apartment's bathroom.

The two men face charges of theft, while a woman connected with the gang has been charged with receiving stolen goods.

The investigation into the gang was opened in February, after a tourist reported having their bag stolen from a reception area in a central hotel. 

Police then spotted a pattern in thefts reported by visitors to the Italian capital, and studied CCTV footage from several hotels affected by such incidents, which showed the thefts in action.

The video below shows the gang at work.

Several foreign ministries warn tourists travelling to Rome about high levels of bag-snatching and pickpocketing in the Italian capital. 

The American, British, German, French and Belgian foreign offices have all issued such warnings, with the American Department of State singling out Rome's Termini station and bars and cafes near Rome’s Colosseum, Colle Oppio, Campo de Fiori and Piazza Navona as hotspots for petty crime.

But are the warnings fair? 2016 crime figures from Istat revealed Milan to be the top city for theft, with the highest number of crimes per thousand residents. Rome came sixth in the ranking, following Bologna, Florence, Turin, and Catania.

And a report by Il Sole 24 Ore later in the year, based on Interior Ministry figures, showed a nationwide decline in pick-pocketing by 3.5 percent from the previous year. Again, the north of Italy emerged as the most afflicted by light-fingered thieves, with Rimini, Bologna, and Milan reporting the most pick-pocketing incidents.

READ ALSO: Revealed: The typical scams used by pickpocketing gangs

Keep passports safe: Typical pickpocket scams revealed
Picture: FCO

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

ROME

Vatican updates guidelines on miracles to avoid ‘confusion among the faithful’

The Vatican updated its rules for supernatural events on Friday, such as visions of Christ or the Virgin Mary, including the acknowledgement that overactive imaginations and outright "lying" risked harming the faithful.

Published: 17 May 2024 16:59 CEST
Vatican updates guidelines on miracles to avoid 'confusion among the faithful'

The new norms, published by the Holy See’s powerful Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Pope Francis, allow for a more “prudent” interpretation of events that generally avoids declaring them outright a supernatural event.

“In certain circumstances not everything is black or white,” Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, who leads the dicastery, said at a press conference.

“Sometimes a possible divine reaction mixes with… human thoughts and fantasies,” Fernandez added.

The history of the Catholic Church is filled with episodes of strange or unexplained phenomena involving religious statues or other objects, whether in Italy or beyond.

The new guidelines come two months after the Church said that a series of widely reported miracles attributed to a statuette of the Virgin Mary – including making a pizza grow in size – were false.

The rules, which represent the first update since 1978, provide more guidance to bishops who until now have been left relatively free to determine the authenticity of such visions on a case-by-case basis.

Underscoring the complexity of the issue, only six cases of such alleged supernatural events have been “officially resolved” by the Vatican since 1950, with one taking “seventy excruciating years”, the document said.

“Today, we have come to the conviction that such complicated situations, which create confusion among the faithful, should always be avoided,” wrote Fernandez in the document.

Argentinian cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez speaks to the press on February 12, 2024. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)

The new rules call for more collaboration between the individual dioceses and the Vatican regarding such events. Bishops’ final decisions will be submitted to the dicastery for approval.

That is crucial because “sometimes the discernment may also deal with problems, such as delicts (civil offences), manipulation, damage to the unity of the Church, undue financial gain, and serious doctrinal errors that could cause scandals and undermine the credibility of the Church,” said the document.

They include believers “misled by an event attributed to a divine initiative but is merely the product of someone’s imagination” or those who have an “inclination toward lying”.

In the absence of problems, dioceses will be able to declare a “Nihil Obstat”, indicating there is nothing in the phenomenon contrary to faith and morals.

That falls short of an official declaration of its supernatural authenticity, which is generally to be avoided under the new rules unless the pope authorises it.

SHOW COMMENTS