The Civil Guard has arrested six people for their alleged involvement in the robbery of a jewelry store in Torrijos (Toledo), carried out last October 28, when numerous emergency personnel and security forces were mobilized due to the rail accident that occurred in Urda. The assailants took jewelry valued at between 300,000 and 400,000 euros and carried out an escape during which they threatened to kill several citizens who tried to prevent their getaway.
As the Civil Guard reported this Sunday, November 15, the detainees are three men, two women and a minor, investigated for their alleged involvement in a crime of robbery with violence and intimidation. The operation has made it possible to recover part of the stolen loot and to clarify the circumstances of an assault carried out at a particularly delicate time for the province of Toledo.
The events occurred while much of the security personnel were focused on responding to the Urda rail accident. It was precisely during this deployment that the authors of the robbery acted in the Torrijos establishment.
The investigation has culminated with four of the six arrested in prison, in addition to identifying possible links of some of those involved to other crimes committed in the Community of Madrid.
Three hooded men, a firearm and jewelry valued at 400,000 euros
The robbery took place on October 28, when three individuals with their faces completely covered and dressed in work overalls burst into the jewelry store.
Once inside, the suspects displayed a firearm with which they threatened and assaulted the ownersof the establishment. While intimidating the victims, they began to smash the display cases and take the jewelry on display.
The assailants also managed to access the pieces that were kept in the safe box, substantially increasing the value of the loot. The Civil Guard estimates that the stolen items had a value between 300,000 and 400,000 euros.
After committing the robbery, the three individuals quickly left the jewelry store and got into a vehicle in which a fourth member of the group, tasked with facilitating the getaway, was waiting.
At that moment, several citizens who had witnessed what happened tried to prevent the suspects from escaping. However, according to the police investigation, the attackers responded by threatening them with death, which allowed the four occupants to leave the town.
The vehicle used to escape had been stolen days earlier in a municipality in the Community of Madrid, a circumstance that would later prove relevant for reconstructing the movements of those involved.
A helicopter chased the robbers along the A-5
After receiving the report of the robbery, the Guardia Civil activated a large-scale search operation in which different units from the Comandancia of Toledo took part.
The intervention of the Aerial Service of the Guardia Civil was decisive in locating the car used by the suspects and following its route during the escape.
The officers managed to identify the car while it was traveling along the A-5 motorway. From that moment on, the helicopter made it possible to keep tracking the vehicle and coordinate the intervention of the ground units.
When they realized they were being pursued, the four occupants left the motorway and went into a rural path.
It was then that the suspects decided to abandon the car and set it on fire, allegedly with the intention of destroying possible evidence that could link them to the robbery.
After setting the car on fire, the four continued fleeing on foot, cross-country, trying to avoid their arrest.
However, coordination between the helicopter and the ground patrols made it possible to intercept them and arrest them. According to the Guardia Civil, the four had police records.
The operation was especially relevant due to the circumstances under which the theft occurred, when the mobilization of personnel due to the Urda rail accident required significant coordination of the security and emergency resources.
Two more detainees with 60,000 euros in jewelry inside a backpack
The police operation did not end with the arrest of the four occupants of the vehicle. The investigators continued working to clarify the destination of the stolen jewelry and to identify other people who may have participated in the assault or in concealing the stolen items.
The investigations carried out by the CERES Group of the Guardia Civil made it possible to locate in El Casar de Escalona, also in the province of Toledo, two other people who were allegedly related to the events.
It was a man and a woman who were transporting part of the stolen jewelry in a backpack, whose approximate value amounted to 60,000 euros.
Both were arrested, raising the total number of people detained in the investigation to six. The recovery of these pieces represents part of the stolen loot, although the total value of the stolen jewelry is, according to police calculations, between 300,000 and 400,000 euros.
Four detainees in prison and connections to another robbery in Madrid
The Guardia Civil has confirmed that four of the six detainees have entered prison after the corresponding judicial proceedings.
In addition, investigators attribute to two of the arrested people a possible involvement in a robbery committed in a bingo hall in Madrid, within the activities of a criminal organization that has been dismantled as a result of another parallel investigation.
This connection has made it possible to expand the investigations beyond the assault on the jewelry store in Torrijos and to examine the alleged involvement of some of the suspects in other criminal acts.
Numerous personnel from the Command of Toledo took part in the operation, including the Unidad Orgánica de Policía Judicial, the Grupo CERES, the Equipos Territoriales de Policía Judicial of Torrijos and Talavera de la Reina, the Equipos ROCA, Public Citizen Security patrols and the Air Service.
The proceedings initiated by the Police Judicial Team of Torrijos have been sent, together with the detainees, to the Tribunal de Instancia de Torrijos, Sección Civil y de Instrucción, plaza número 3.
The operation made it possible to clarify a robbery carried out on a day marked by the Urda rail accident, which had concentrated an important part of the province’s emergency resources.
The rapid action of the Guardia Civil, especially the aerial surveillance of the getaway vehicle, was key to arresting the first four suspects, while subsequent investigations made it possible to locate two other people involved and recover jewelry valued at around 60,000 euros.