Fourteen people were investigated in Cagliari, all minors, less than a week ago. Two arrests (and five people under investigation) were made in Sassari yesterday: here too, the perpetrators were under 18. Today, eighteen reports were filed in Oristano, including both juveniles and very young people.
Protagonists of fights, assaults, robberies, extortion, and, in some cases, even drug dealing: the findings of three investigations conducted by police headquarters in three provincial capitals clearly indicate a youth crime crisis. While it's true that the problem is being addressed in detail thanks to the effectiveness of investigative efforts, the numbers also suggest that the phenomenon, which appears increasingly entrenched among the younger age groups, should not be underestimated .
In Cagliari
Robberies, muggings, beatings, extortion, and drug dealing: a long trail of petty crime incidents in downtown Cagliari and in some shopping centers in recent months, starting last September 2025, is thought to have been perpetrators of the crimes by minors. All the reports from victims have led investigators to suspect a connection between the youths (primarily between the ages of 14 and 16). So, six days ago, the Carabinieri of the Cagliari branch, in collaboration with other branches, personnel from the provincial command, and the intervention of the Carabinieri helicopter, conducted 14 searches, at the request of the Juvenile Prosecutor's Office, on very young boys suspected of a series of incidents in what investigators themselves describe as an alarming phenomenon of juvenile crime. None of them come from troubled families. The suspicion is that they had created a petty crime network.
In Sassari
Yesterday in Sassari, two fifteen-year-olds were arrested (five others are under investigation) on charges of terrorizing the city over the past two months. "They were following the Maranza model," explained Michele Mecca, head of the Flying Squad, at the police station. Beatings, robberies of businesses, extortion by minors against peers for €10-15 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 residential care, while another is under house arrest.
In Oristano
The new investigation comes from Oristano: the participants in the massive brawl that broke out on the night between January 3rd and 4th in the cathedral square have been identified. Two gangs, armed with belts, bars, batons, and pepper spray, clashed over alcohol and drugs.
Enrico Fresu