Two men were arrested by Catalan police on the AP-7 motorway on Wednesday August 11, reports The Independent. They were caught in the act of robbing a motorist using the flat tire technique, a scam that is widespread on the highways of Catalonia, northeastern Spain.
Their method was well established: first, they force a motorist to stop on the emergency lane, citing a failure of one of his tires. Then, while one of the two men is busy distracting the motorist, the other slips into the cockpit of his car to steal valuables from him without being spotted.
Detenim a home in Reus amb 106 antecedents per fets similars, that formava part of a group that aturava i robava in vehicles at the AP-7 of del juny amb el mètode del ‘punxa-rodes’. El jutge li ha establert la prohibició d’apropar-se a aquesta via pic.twitter.com/dZjrRPegKc
– Mossos (@mossos) August 14, 2021
One of the two men allegedly committed 106 crimes of this nature
Every year, especially during the summer period, many cases of theft linked to this scam are reported. One of the two men arrested would have accumulated 106 crimes of this type, all committed on the AP-7, in Catalonia and as far as Valencia. Both were finally released on probation, pending their future trial, said the Mossos, the Catalan police, in a statement released on Saturday.
The police also announced that they would continue to search for the other members of the criminal gang to which the two arrested men belong. Police officers also urged motorists to be very careful on Catalonia’s highways.