71-year-old man arrested for thefts to return to prison

The 71 year old man who was arrested by the Judiciary Police for two robberies with a firearm, in Albufeira and Silves, will return to prison, announced the Public Ministry (MP).

Since 1985, the detainee has served several prison sentences, which "totalize more than 18 years". At the time of the crimes, he was on parole.

According to the MP, the first of the two crimes was committed at 15 pm on 00 May, in a parking lot in the Paderne area.

The detainee, "armed with a gun, got into the back seat of a car, where the driver and a passenger were already there", threatened the driver with a firearm and ordered him to drive off.

The driver still started to march, but “immediately honked his horn to alert passers-by. Meanwhile, the passenger got out of the car.

The assailant then forced the driver to leave the vehicle «and sat in the driver's seat, unable to put the vehicle in gear, as he did not know the automatic shift system».

«Nevertheless, the detainee left the car, went to the passenger and, wielding the pistol, summoned her to hand over her wallet. Faced with the presence of people, the detainee fled without taking any goods», described the MP.

On the 26th, the defendant committed a second crime of robbery, this time in the Tunes area and accompanied by another person, «both wearing balaclavas».

The target was an isolated house, outside which the robbers found the owner of the house, “with whom they got involved in a fight”.

«At one point, the other guy went inside the house, having butted the head of the owner who was at the street door. When everyone was inside the house, the detainee demanded “the card and the money”», describes the Public Ministry.

In the face of the owner's refusal, both got involved in a fight again, with the owner of the house managing to take the “crosshair” from the detainee – which led him and the third person to flee».

The man ended up being detained and saw the court accept the request of the Public Prosecutor, who «required the application of the coercive measure of pre-trial detention to the detainee».