BEWARE: Muggers/Thieves in Torrevieja
Legendary helpful member
Hi all,
I expect the increase in thefts being reported lately are the usual, seasonal scumbags preying on tourists and other foreigners, but after an incident yesterday, I wonder whether the lack of potential victims around, due to Covid-19 restrictions, has made some thieves even more desperate 😡
I took an elderly friend to Torrevieja yesterday for a meeting. We parked in the multi-storey car park, Centro el Arcos, on Calle Ramon Gallud. After finishing her business, I walked her back to the car park - she has difficulty walking, so was holding my arm. As we approached the ticket machine at the front of the car park, she stopped to get her purse, but as I had the ticket, I went straight to the machine. This is when I noticed a young man taking particular interest in my friend. When he came alongside me to the second machine (no social distancing and without a ticket!), I don't think he realised that we were together. Having paid for the car park, we went to the lift - 10 seconds later he joined us. At our level, he gestured for us to leave the lift first, but I told him in Spanish to go ahead as my friend had difficulty walking. Now in front of us, I was able to hold my friend back and get her to fasten her bag. By this time, he had walked beyond where my car was parked and was pretending to check his phone whilst stood by some other cars. I quickly turned the corner and got her into the car out of sight, but as I walked around my car, he was hiding by the edge of the wall, looking at me. It probably took me less than 3 seconds to get the car door open, me inside and the central locking deployed, but he was by the side of my door almost as quickly. He was trying to get me to open the window, but I just started the engine and shot out of my parking space.
I drove down the exit ramp to the ticket barrier and, fortunately, the car park attendant was stood outside of the office, so I called him over and told him what had happened. As I was describing the lad, he walked nonchalantly along the pavement in front of us, so I was able to point him out to the attendant. When we turned out of the car park, the lad was still stood there, no doubt waiting for his next potential victim. He was so brazen, I dread to think what could have happened if my friend had been on her own. Thankfully, no harm done - other than my heart rate, which took a couple of minutes to return to normal. Please, please folks, be very mindful of others around you, even if they appear to be friendly, and trust your Sixth Sense.
Stay safe,
Kim