A 68-year-old man was left hospitalised after he was beaten by a gang of robbers who stopped to ask him for a cigarette, the man’s family said on Facebook.
Emmanuel Zammit was one of three people alleged to have been robbed and assaulted by a group of people on Sunday afternoon. The group who allegedly carried out the robbery, and similar robberies on two other people, was arrested by police later that same day.
Zammit’s daughter wrote on Facebook how her father had been in Blata l-Bajda at 1pm on Sunday when three people approached him asking for a cigarette. When Zammit said no because he does not smoke, the men allegedly held him and beat him up before leaving with his phone and wallet, which had just €40 in it.
Zammit’s daughter said that the men who assaulted her father were dark-skinned. Police did not issue any information or description of the suspect in their statement, but noted that the suspects arrested matched the description given to them by the victims of the attack.
“You hear about these things, but when it happens to you, you believe it even more”, Zammit’s daughter wrote on social media.
In a statement, the police said that at around 3pm on Sunday, while carrying out patrols in the Hamrun area, their assistance was requested around the area of Sai Maison gardens, where a report was filed that a man had been assaulted by three people.
The man gave the description of those who had assaulted and robbed him to police, and while police were searching the area, they noted a person who fit the description in Mountbatten Street in Pieta.
When the man saw the police, he attempted to escape. Police gave chase and arrested the man in St. Gorg Preca Street. Two other people who fit the descriptions given were also arrested by members of the RIU in Joe Gasan Street in Pieta.
At that point, police were approached by a youth who said that he had been assaulted and robbed by three people who fit the same description as that given to police by the man earlier in the day. At the same time, police were also informed that an elderly man - Zammit - had been assaulted by the same people.
A total of four men are being held by police in related to the robberies and assault.