Violent robbery in a country house in Pilar: they beat him and stole $70,000

The light of a lantern woke the man who was sleeping in his house.

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a gun pointed at him millimeters from his face.

His worst nightmare came true: thieves threatened to kill him if he did not give them money.

.

This Thursday and Monday at dawn they broke into three houses in

, located at Km 56.5 of the Pan-American Highway in Pilar, while in a fourth they tried to enter the property, but could not .

No house had an

because they just thought they weren't going to need them.

After the robberies, all the owners installed their own security measures like the rest of the neighbors in the country. 

Despite the fact that gated communities are chosen for the security they provide, it is often violated.

In "Los Arces",

.

It's the highest amount they pay for a service that doesn't seem to work.

Behind him are the salaries of the personnel, which amounted to $580,000.

"There were three thieves. One looked like a policeman because of how he spoke to me in correct terms, he was the leader, he would be 50 years old. The other two were assholes and

, "says Franco Palmieri (41) in dialogue with

, victim of the robbery this Monday. 

Owner of a car dealership and a real estate agency in Pilar, he was hit twice with a gun butt, one of which opened his head.

They had to give him two stitches.

All his life he lived in closed neighborhoods and since 2019 he moved to "Los Arces" for

.

The safe that Palmieri had in his dressing room.

In addition to beating him, they robbed him.

"

. Out of nerves I put the key wrong three times. The leader told me: 'Don't worry, you've already lost.' It was the worst experience of my life," he says about what happened .

After the robbery, "I don't want to be in there anymore," that's why he slept one night at his father's.

Security service under suspicion

"Coincidentally, the perimeter cameras had not worked for 10 days. I am 85 meters from that area," Franco says.

And he points out that the security company is going to be replaced from January 31.

The big unknown is what the guards who had to control the country cameras were doing.

In fact, the residents interviewed say that at the entrance to the neighborhood there are apartments called La Cañada Village.

Until February 2022, the guards of La Cañada were part of the security of the entire complex.

But at that time they discovered that there were some with "a record of theft in countries" and they were displaced from Los Arces, although they continue to work in La Cañada. 

The thieves made holes in the perimeter walls of the neighborhood.

Everything indicates that the criminals would have entered through there, but the neighbors hold two hypotheses: that of the guards or that the thieves could rent houses where they could hide after stealing so they would not be seen leaving the neighborhood.

Palmieri shows one of the injuries he sustained in the violent robbery.

"It may be that they made holes in the ground to

," says Verónica Scotti (47), who woke up this Thursday at four in the morning being gunned down, along with her husband.

Unlike the Palmieri robbery, on Monday, when they were robbed, the cameras were working.

"They told us they were policemen, they had bulletproof vests but no badges," he adds.

She doesn't know if she went randomly, but she is sure that the criminals

. "

Hearing her mother's screams, her eldest daughter, 24, was awake and ran out to

.

"I think there was a thief outside the bell and when they saw my daughter, the two who were in my room asking me for money left," she told

.

Given the notice they could not steal.

But they couldn't stop them either. 

The Scottis moved to this gated community in January 2021. They moved to this gated community in search of more security because they previously lived in a closed neighborhood in Matheu.

They have been living in the country for 12 years and this is the first time they have been robbed: they thought that in Pilar they would have even more security. 

Just four houses from Verónica lives Marta De Campo (66).

Thieves also entered there at dawn on Thursday: $30,000 and jewelry were stolen from Marta.

She also woke up with a gun to her temple and under the threat that

.

It is the first time they robbed him, he has lived there for a year and a half because before he was widowed he lived with his children and her husband in Los Lagartos: in that country of Pilar, he says, they hired a police service in addition to private surveillance .  

In all three cases, three criminals acted, but the neighbors do not know if they are the same.

A modus operandi that was repeated is that everyone

so that they would not give notice of what was happening: they were left in the rooms where they did not sleep. 

The investigation

So far there are no great advances to find out who is responsible for the robberies.

Pilar's Functional Instruction Unit (UFI) 2, headed by Andrés Quintana,

. 

"There are no cameras inside the neighborhood, that's why we are seeing the ones outside. For now, no watchman has declared," judicial sources in the case explain to

. 

In turn, Franco's lawyer, Cristian Cúneo Libarona, says that they have already requested the names of the security personnel who worked during the early hours of the morning.

"We also ask the prosecutor's office that the administration send the footage from the perimeter cameras and the day of the event," he says. 

tried to communicate with the neighborhood administration, but received no response. 

Cúneo Libarona emphasizes that "there are tapes that record what was recorded and last five days, so we don't want to lose that evidence."

In addition, the victim of the robbery of 70,000 dollars will request compensation from the digital camera company and the administration of the country.

ACE