26 Jul, 2019 @ 18:30
1 min read

SPEEDY GONZALEZ: Valencia’s 2018 marathon champ caught running off with stolen clothes and a robot vacuum

VALENCIA’S 2018 regional marathon champion has been implicated in a string of thefts for which he uses his prodigious legs to run from the law.

Jaouad Tougane, born in Morocco but raised in Spain, has been arrested twice in 15 days for crimes including the robbery of a woman’s handbag.

Earlier this month, Tougane snatched the handbag in a bathroom at Valencia’s Estación del Norte, before powering away.

Police detained the athlete minutes later.

The champion athlete had 15 days previously been arrested after stealing a till with €800 inside from the third floor of a commercial centre in Valencia.

RUNNING AWAY: Tougane (left) was identified via CCTV

He was arrested after CCTV identified him via two moles on his face.

Just last Saturday, the youth was implicated in three more thefts after he was intercepted with clothes and a cleaning robot taken from two shops and a supermarket.

Tougane was taken before National Police, but not arrested because the value of the stolen items did not exceed €400.

Most of the thefts Tougane has committed in recent weeks have resulted in nothing, as €400 is the limit of a minor crime for theft.

The young man reportedly does not resist and shows a calm and collaborative attitude with the police.

In this way, the marathoner accumulates minor crimes – but never arrests.

Tougane’s family believe he is still aiming for the Olympics, according to Las Provincias, but the athlete has been dropped form the Club Atletisme Playas de Castellón where he trains.

Joshua Parfitt

Joshua James Parfitt is the Costa Blanca correspondent for the Olive Press. He holds a gold-standard NCTJ in multimedia journalism from the award-winning News Associates in Twickenham. His work has been published in the Sunday Times, Esquire, the Mail on Sunday, the Daily Mail, the Sun, the Sun on Sunday, the Mirror, among others. He has appeared on BBC Breakfast to discuss devastating flooding in Spain, as well as making appearances on BBC and LBC radio stations.

Contact me now: joshua@theolivepress.es or call +44 07960046259. Twitter: @jjparfitt

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