A plastic pistol was the tool used by two men who attempted to rob a supermarket in Alicante, but their plan failed. The assailants fled the scene after recognizing that the robbery had collapsed, only to be detained a short distance away by a plainclothes patrol of the National Police.
According to the store cashier, while one of the men paid for a beer, the other, lingering at the doorway with a tense posture, stepped toward the register and leveled the weapon at the employee, shouting, “Give me the money.”
Failed Robbery
Faced with the threat, the cashier instinctively closed the cash drawer, and the would-be robbers fled the premises in a sprint, convinced their plan had been thwarted. The store manager, who was outside taking out the trash, saw the two men as they ran away and could observe their physical features and clothing. He also informed the police that one of them still carried the pistol and, when he moved past the manager, issued a menacing warning: “Step aside and stay out of this.”
At that moment, a call to CIMACC from the 091 emergency line alerted service patrols to a robbery with intimidation inside a supermarket, allegedly carried out by two men with a firearm. A rapid police deployment was coordinated around the area to locate the offenders, while a unit proceeded to the store to gather details.
The description and characteristics of the suspects, provided by the manager and the cashier, were shared with other officers in the vicinity. After a few minutes and an intensive search, a nearby plainclothes patrol located in a plaza close to the scene two men who perfectly matched the transmitted characteristics.
Toy Gun
The officers approached with heightened precautions, given that the suspects might still possess the weapon used to intimidate the cashier. In the moment they realized they had been spotted, one of the robbers tucked a hand into his jacket. To prevent any possible assault, one of the officers deployed a Taser, prompting the man to drop the weapon, which proved to be a replica. [Source: Local police reports, CIMACC 091 communications]
Ultimately, the officers detained both men as alleged perpetrators of a crime of robbery with intimidation in an attempt, and they were placed at the disposal of the guard courts of instruction in the same locality.