Alex Trelinski
A man posing as a plumber made up reports of water leaks to set up six distraction burglaries in Alicante City centre businesses.
The 23-year-old thief struck at establishments all close to each other in less than a month.
He entered each business to warn them that water leaks were being caused due to work being carried out on the floor above them.
He suggested to shop owners and staff that they go to their toilet and run a water tap while he carried some checks.
As they duly obliged, he stole whatever he could lay his hands on.
The burglaries netted him six mobile phones with a total value of over €3,000.
In one business, he took lottery tickets worth €690 from a safe as well as €11 in cash.
The Policia Nacional recognised the man from security videos as a habitual criminal and arrested him.
