He posed as a Carabiniere to extort money and jewels from a 68-year-old woman, but was blocked and arrested red-handed by the real soldiers. It happened on Tuesday afternoon in Mistretta, where a 75-year-old from Palermo, already known to the police, ended up in handcuffs for attempted aggravated extortion in competition.
The plan began with a phone call from an accomplice who had frightened the old woman by threatening a false criminal complaint if she did not hand over her goods. Shortly afterwards, the 75-year-old showed up at the victim’s house and had the stolen goods handed over to him. The scam was foiled by the timely call of the carer to the Carabinieri station, who rushed to the scene and caught the man in the act.
During the search of his car, the military also found a knife and a truncheon, also triggering a complaint for illegal possession of weapons. At the end of the formalities, the 75-year-old was associated with the Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto prison at the disposal of the Judicial Authority.