Spanish police have arrested a 50-year-old Algerian man and his 16-year-old son over two violent robberies targeting three women in Alicante, including two elderly victims who were hospitalized after being thrown to the ground.
The father, who has a prior criminal record, was ordered into pretrial detention on Tuesday, while his son was placed in a juvenile detention center.
According to Información, the father is legally resident in Spain after obtaining regular status through Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s mass amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Both suspects are being investigated for possible involvement in other unresolved violent robberies in Alicante.
The father allegedly approached the elderly victims under the pretense of asking for help. The first reported attack took place at around 11 p.m. on Saturday in Tomás Valcárcel Square in Alicante’s San Blas neighborhood.
A neighbor called the authorities after hearing screams and seeing an Arab male run toward a waiting car. Officers arriving at the scene found two women, aged 87 and 72, lying injured.
After pretending to ask for directions, the man allegedly lunged at them, knocking both to the ground before ripping a chain from the 87-year-old woman and fleeing.
Both victims were taken by ambulance to the hospital, with one suffering a broken hip.
Officers subsequently learned that a 46-year-old woman had been robbed approximately two hours earlier by a man matching the same description, who took off in a car.
The license plate details provided by the victim and another witness matched the vehicle reportedly used following the attack on the two elderly women. This led to the duo being arrested.
Police said the 16-year-old admitted that he and his father had been stealing for two days but complained that “it doesn’t go well for us.”
Officers instead seized three mobile phones, a speaker, a watch and a credit card registered to another person.
The father has been charged with robbery and causing injuries to the two elderly women.
