35‑year‑old suspect identified in Botricello shop thefts in Calabria

Police in Botricello, a town in the province of Catanzaro, Calabria, arrested a 35‑year‑old man from Isola di Capo Rizzuto after linking him to two recent shop robberies. The first theft involved a boutique where the suspect distracted the owner and stole a customer’s purse containing about €200 in cash and personal items. The second theft targeted a nearby butcher shop, where he forced an entry and took roughly €30 from the cash register.

Investigators used surveillance footage, a discarded handwritten note with the suspect’s name and phone number, and a smartphone left at the scene to confirm his identity. The phone and a small amount of hashish recovered from the butcher shop were seized. The suspect, already known to law‑enforcement, was placed under investigation and released pending further legal proceedings at the Catanzaro prosecutor’s office.