La Gavia Shopping Center in Madrid, located in Vallecas, experienced a dramatic four-minute sequence that left shoppers ducking for cover and a jeweler faced with a brazen looting. The entire incident is captured in a video clip released by CASO ABERTO, an investigative program from Prensa Ibérica, detailing how four criminals stormed the jewelry store, restrained the clerk, and plundered the premises before disappearing into the mall crowd.
The footage shows four assailants arriving at the scene. One of them is armed, while another carries a fire extinguisher they had previously stolen. They deploy the extinguisher at the mall entrance to release a smoky distraction, causing confusion and restricting entry for anyone trying to intervene. Inside the jewelry shop, patrons seek safety inside the supermarket area while chaos unfolds. The incident begins shortly before eleven in the morning on August 23, with the clock marking the tense four minutes that unfold before the suspects exit the mall.
The robbers move with a clear plan. They enter the jewelry store armed with guns and mallets, shattering stained glass and forcing the store to open its loot bag for collection. A clerk, a woman inside the shop, resists briefly but is threatened as one of the criminals keeps watch over the area while another steps in and out to prevent interference. Within four minutes, the group has loaded jewelry valued at about 250,000 euros into a bag.
Guns, ski masks, and some of the stolen jewelry are later shown in stills associated with the incident, underscoring the severity of the crime. An accomplice waits outside, stationed at the entrance behind the wheel of a stolen car with altered plates. The group exits in a coordinated fashion, managing to close the tailgate only with difficulty and continuing their flight with the loot in hand.
An additional detail emerges from the investigation: the thieves are linked to a vehicle used in their getaway that day, a factor that helped investigators trace the route of the crime. The National Police and UDEV task force initiated a rapid inquiry based on surveillance footage showing the getaway vehicle, which is later identified as a Range Rover reported stolen weeks earlier in Seville. The investigation connects the incident to a football figure formerly associated with Sevilla and presently linked with Dutch club Ajax, named Lucas Ocampos, who had been known to own and operate the vehicle involved in the crime scene.
Authorities pieced together that prior thefts in Seville and surrounding regions shared tactical similarities, including the use of vehicles to crash into jewelry stores and adjacent structures. In some cases, car doors and alarms have complicated the response and increased pursuit risk. The Madrid operation highlighted the capability of criminals to exploit public spaces like shopping centers, moving from a storefront robbery into a rapid escape, and then blending back into crowds at a busy venue.
As the investigation progressed, police traced the car’s movements to two well-known local suspects and their associates. All identified individuals are described as Spanish nationals tied to the same criminal network responsible for the La Gavia heist. The inquiry yielded several key pieces of evidence, including two compact gas-powered devices, a radio, an onboard diagnostics tool used for car theft, gloves, ski masks, and two additional vehicles. The case also confirmed the involvement of the football player Lucas Ocampos in the broader sequence of events and the use of the stolen Range Rover during the caper.
The overall effort involved coordinated steps by law enforcement to reconstruct the sequence of events from the moment the thieves arrived until their flash exit. The pursuit continued as investigators followed the automobile’s trail, identifying the two primary suspects who allegedly led the operation. The case has highlighted the difficulty of stopping well-planned, rapid robberies carried out in public spaces and then escaping into the surrounding urban environment.
Public safety officials emphasized the importance of swift reaction times and the value of surveillance in crowded venues. The episode at La Gavia underscores ongoing challenges for retailers and police alike as criminals devise new methods to bypass security measures and flee before intervention. The ongoing inquiry remains active, with authorities reviewing footage, interviewing witnesses, and cross-referencing stolen property with recovered items to confirm ownership and return assets to rightful owners.
The Madrid incident demonstrates how a combination of strategic entry, distraction, and a focused loot operation can unfold in a short window of time. Investigators continue to analyze the details of the getaway, the vehicles involved, and the network behind the crime to prevent future incidents of a similar nature. Marked exhibits and forensic reviews are expected to contribute to a clearer narrative of the night of the robbery and the subsequent steps taken by law enforcement to bring those responsible to justice.