Three 15-year-olds arrested in Sassari on charges of having terrorized the city in the last two months . " They had the Maranza model ," explained the head of the flying squad, Michele Mecca, at the police station this morning.
Beatings, robberies of businesses, extortion by minors against peers for 10-15 euros or to steal cell phones, and attacks on uncontrolled youths in the city center and the suburbs. Two of them , by order of the Public Prosecutor's Office, are being held in a community facility, while the other is under house arrest .
The arrests , made today, led to the seizure of knives, clubs, knuckledusters, crowbars, and drug-smoking devices . The three are also charged with grievous bodily harm because the beatings, committed without reason other than, it seems, for the pleasure of beating , caused injuries that would take over 60 days of treatment .
"We wanted to send a signal," Mecca continued, "and block them immediately."
According to the reconstruction, the group consisted of about twenty young people, most of whom were bystanders to the violence. "At first, we thought they were unrelated incidents, but we discovered they were all connected."
"The response from law enforcement arrived quickly," stated Police Commissioner Filiberto Mastrapasqua. "There were numerous incidents," Mecca concluded, "and we are still receiving reports."