Dressed in black, wearing jackets and hoods, they move quickly on foot, and from Viale delle Vigne they cross Via Sassari to reach the FunerArte funeral home, one of the businesses visited during the night between Wednesday and Thursday by the perpetrators of the eight break-ins, five of which resulted in thefts, in the city center of Porto Torres.
It is from this shop that CCTV footage captured the two thieves at 4 a.m. attempting to force their way through the security door. They pulled two screwdrivers from their pockets, but the heist failed, while others were successful on Viale delle Vigne, Via Roma, and Via Mare. The valuable footage could inform the investigation, being conducted by the Carabinieri of the Porto Torres branch, into the latest raids on restaurants and bars, flower shops, takeaways, clothing stores, and gift shops, particularly in the city center. This was a spate of break-ins that netted a small sum of money but caused damage to the businesses. The two thieves are said to be on their last legs.
The police are also examining other images from video surveillance systems located elsewhere in the city. The raid began on the night between Monday and Tuesday, and the first victim was the Age Oro gift shop on the central Via Sassari. The raid continued over the next 48 hours, when they decided to lay siege to the entire city, targeting the Carillion restaurant, the Artemisia bar, the Fiorajo shop on Viale delle Vigne, a "linear" raid that took them to Via Mare, the Spagò restaurant, and the Arizona clothing store, one of the businesses that suffered the burglary, along with the Fogu delicatessen on Via Roma.
The dynamic was the same: the glass of the front door was shattered to gain entry. The shopkeepers felt as if their world, which they nurtured with daily effort and dedication, had been violated. "We never keep the day's takings in the shop; in fact, very little money was stolen, but these acts of vandalism are damaging and worrying," the shopkeepers complained. "It's a poorly guarded area, and the cameras are tools that help us feel safer."
In the council chamber, Councilor Sebastiano Sassu brought the matter to the council's attention. He and Mayor Massimo Mulas expressed solidarity with the owners of the affected businesses. "We condemn these actions and express our solidarity with the businesses," the mayor said, "using the only tools we have at our disposal, such as planning, which has allowed us to secure the funds to purchase 68 new, state-of-the-art security cameras, in addition to the more than 150 already installed throughout the area."
Next Monday, the mayor and Councilor for Productive Activities, Claudio Piras, will sign the Security Protocol with the Prefecture at the Chamber of Commerce headquarters, to increase security through the installation of additional cameras. "Regarding the limited security, we can only say that the police, given the human resources they have, are doing their best, covering such a vast area with limited resources," the mayor emphasized.