They chase and attack the wrong fans. The state police of Catania have reported 5 rossoblù fans for an episode of violence which occurred during the football match with Taranto, which took place on 22 October at the «Massimino» municipal stadium.
The ultras aged 39, 34, 47, 24 and 37, before the match, had attacked what they thought were the fans of the opposing team, but they were supporters of the “Nuova Gioiese”, and they also damaged the vehicle they were traveling in .
The investigations made it possible to ascertain that the Calabrian fans, while traveling along the A18 Messina-Catania motorway to go to Acireale, where the Acireale-Nuova Gioiese football match was scheduled, about 2 kilometers before the Acireale junction, they were flanked by some cars that attempted to block them. The occupants of the cars, many of them with their faces covered, after blocking the minivan of the «Nuova Gioiese» fans, got out of their cars to hit the vehicle using clubs and other blunt instruments.
The driver of the minivan of the Calabrian fans, however, managed to free himself by taking the Acireale junction where, however, he was reached by the attackers, who, several times, attempted to block the road to the unfortunates.
Despite the ambush, the Calabrian fans managed to resume their march towards Cataniawhere, after reaching the ring road, they were reached by agents of the State Police, who intervened following reports received at the single emergency number.
Digos immediately started investigations and it emerged that the minivan in which the Nuova Gioiese fans were traveling was mistaken for one of the vehicles used by the Taranto fans heading to Catania and was, for this reason, chased to the Acireale toll booth by some cars with Catania ultras on board. From the checks carried out on the license plates of the four vehicles, the officers were able to identify the attackers, all ultras from Catania.
The fifth was identified thanks to the images of the cameras installed at the Acireale toll booth, immortalized when he got out of one of the cars to chase the Gioiese fans. The Digos agents, thanks to the video footage taken by the staff of the local Regional Cabinet of the Scientific Police, identified and reported another 5 fans, including 3 from Catania and 2 from Taranto, for events that occurred inside the sports facility: a fan 21-year-old who, present in the stands of «Tribuna B», lit and threw a smoke bomb at the Taranto fans and two fans, a 51-year-old and a 26-year-old, present respectively in the north curve and the south curve, who each have access for a smoke.
Same fate for a Taranto fan, a 29-year-old, who entered the guest sector of the stadium showing an access ticket which, following subsequent investigations, turned out to be counterfeit. Another supporter from Puglia, 22 years old, was, however, reported for having carried out acts contrary to public decency. Against all 10 fans, on the basis of the investigation carried out by the Anti-Crime Division of the police headquarters, the Police Commissioner issued as many Daspo measures ranging from 1 to 5 years.