Alex Trelinski
A THIEF pretended to be a lost tourist to rob holidaymakers at motorway service areas in the Valencian Community and Murcia.
The Romanian national, 52, has been charged with committing at least 37 offences.
A court in Villena(Alicante province) ordered him to be jailed after it emerged he was on the run from authorities across Spain.
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The man’s robbery routine involved him taking the guise of a ‘lost’ traveller who would approach tourists with large-sized maps to request directions.
He strategically put the maps on bags, backpacks and other personal effects which he would then steal.
If a victim discovered what he was up to, he wouldn’t hesitate to use violence.
He looked for non-Spanish targets at the AP-7 service areas and used different cars with various foreign number plates- none in his name- to make it harder to find him.
The Guardia Civil managed to identify him after sifting through crime reports from service areas and analysing security cameras.
The man had multiple arrest warrants out against him and a ban on leaving Spain for committing similar offences.
Several courts had pending cases against him.
The Guardia estimated that his AP-7 service station antics netted him around €32,000 of jewellery, mobile phones, and other personal effects over the last year.
It’s not been ruled out that other people were unknowingly fooled by his large map ruse.
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