"Smash" in the slot rooms: a gang defeated

Robbery, money laundering, multiple theft and receiving stolen goods: these are the accusations with which three men of Romanian origin were stopped by the judicial police team of the Turin “Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta” traffic police department.

According to the investigators, coordinated by the Prosecutor's Office, the three are the authors of numerous splits in the slot rooms that took place on the Piedmontese motorway network . At least thirty shots have been attributed to the gang, which had chosen video poker machines and money changers in the rest areas as targets. In many cases they devastated the premises by destroying the shop windows and when the three encountered people during their raids, they were beaten and threatened.

Among the alleged robberies, one on 23 May in the slot room in the Beinasco Sud service area - on the Turin - Pinerolo motorway junction - which suffered three splits in the space of a month and one on 9 June in Genola, in the province of Cuneo.

Also in May, according to the results of the investigations, the gang used a school bus and a van stolen as "rams" to enter the Sisal MatchPoint slot room in Santena (Turin).

The criminals, stopped after yet another theft, always acted with their faces covered . In their homes were found clothes, clothing and personal effects worn during the splits.

Stolen vehicles used for the shots were also found and seized : a Ford Kuga stolen about a year ago in a car showroom in Bra (Cuneo), along with two other cars and two pairs of license plates.

After the validation of the arrests, carried out last June 21, for all members of the gang, the investigating judge ordered the precautionary measure of custody in prison in the Lorusso and Cutugno prison in Turin.

The investigations , also conducted through wiretapping, stalking and analysis of the images of the video surveillance systems, lasted a few months , since the alleged authors of the "splits" acted in such a way as to avoid leaving traces useful for their identification.

(Unioneonline / vl)