He walked fast, determined and with something around his waist in the middle of the night. He pulled up to a light pole and began to climb it with the agility of a monkey stealing cables. What he didn't know is that a security camera was showing him live. And at the monitoring center they were watching him because a neighbor had already reported that he saw someone suspicious hanging around.
This is how in the last few hours a cable theft was arrested red-handed by the San Miguel Police in Barrio Obligado. The images show the entire sequence from the moment the suspect approaches the light pole and climbs to the top.
The episode was reported to the Municipal Operations Center (COM) by a neighbor through Ojos en Alerta, who provided the location and description of the suspect through WhatsApp.
From the COM they quickly detected the suspect with the security cameras and sent patrols to the scene. Thus, in a few minutes the Municipal Police arrested the man and placed him at the disposal of Justice.
Cable stealing: a crime that spread throughout the country
In recent months, cases of cable theft made headlines in practically the entire country. From thieves who were electrocuted in the attempted robbery, to blocks and neighborhoods that are left without electricity due to this crime and thieves who were lynched by neighbors.
Earlier this month, a 24-year-old man suffered burns all over his body while trying to steal high-voltage cables buried in the street, on the corner of Av. Ovidio Lagos and Salta, in Rosario. He tried to cut the line with a saw-type knife when he was shocked. He ended up with 60% of his body burned.
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It was in the early morning. Three subjects cut a section of telephone cables, leaving the sector without service. They also damaged Edenor downpipes.
In that same city, in February Ezequiel Curaba, 20, died after receiving an electric shock that burned 90% of his body when he tried to steal cables.
His had been the fourth fatal case so far in 2024: there were victims in La Plata, Mendoza and another in Rosario.
“In 2023 there have been many cases of burns for the same cause and, although it may seem incredible, hospitalized for that reason who were discharged and re-admitted for the same reason,” declared Laura Taljame, deputy director of the Rosario HECA. It is the same place where the young man who received the discharge today entered.
MG