Alex Trelinski
A YOUNG runner pounding the streets of Alicante had his gold chain ripped off him when scammers asked him to take a photo of them.
The Policia Nacional have detained three men for committing robbery with violence as well as resisting arrest.
Passers-by asking strangers to take a mobile phone photo is common these days but a man out for a training run didn’t expect the request to end in a crime.
READ MORE:
- British tourist has expensive gold chain stolen by Benidorm ‘love hug’ thief who foolishly publishes social media photos of her showing it off
- Woman offering sex to men in the street steals two watches worth over €50k within 30 minutes on Spain’s Costa Blanca
He was stopped in the city’s Plaza del Doctor Gomez by the three ‘young’ men.
As he took their phone to take a picture, one of the group grabbed him by the neck and tore off his gold chain.
He resisted but was assaulted by the trio who then ran off, but with the victim in hot pursuit after calling the police.
A Policia Nacional patrol car spotted the chase and officers joined in on foot to apprehend the thieves.
The stolen chain was returned to its owner and the detainees hauled before an Alicante investigating court.
The police have warned people not to wear valuable items in public areas and to be aware of potential suspicious situations.
One of the most notorious moves tend to come from ‘love huggers’ who embrace a target wearing expensive jewellery or a watch, before grabbing an item and then running off to a waiting accomplice in a car.
