Alex Trelinski
A THIEF dressed up as a tourist to rob hotel guests staying in premises in the centre of Alicante.
The man, 50, was a Moroccan national with over 100 arrests to his name- 70 of which were for theft- and operated across different areas of Spain.
His latest crime spree has brought him nine charges of theft to add to his extensive docket.
The Policia Nacional described him as a ‘professional criminal’ and at the time of his arrest, officers discovered various items of clothing including hats and sunglasses to make him appear like a holiday maker so that it was harder to find him after a theft.
His fresh detention came after he stole a bag from a hotel’s cafeteria but a staff member detained him.
There were no identification papers on him but officers quickly discovered he was responsible for a mini crime wave at Alicante hotels after checking security camera footage at various premises.
He always tended to strike during busy periods of the day and stole bags, high-end mobile phones, sunglasses and eyeglasses, cash, documents, sets of keys and any other items that he could carry,
All of the security videos showed that he behaved calmly and in natural way, entering the hotels and greeting staff (whom he did not know) in a friendly manner to convey an aura of confidence around him.
He always targeted situations in which tourists were eating or shopping- a time when they were relaxed and might let their guard down.
The man frequently created a distraction to cover up the moment that he stole someone else’s property.
The police said that the damage caused to tourists was greater than just the value of items that he took since taking key travel documents like passports created enormous practical problems for visitors on their return journey home.
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