Two Roma men (Tsigani) aged 26 and 28 years handed themselves into police on Friday 13 December, days after running over and killing a 73-year-old woman they had attempted to rob of a gold chain around her neck.
According to their police report, the two men spotted the victim at the Laiki Agora in Corinth, where they had ventured early morning to sell cleaning items. After noticing her gold chain, they planned to steal it.
Following her home, the 26-year-old assailant got out of the car pretending to need assistance. As the woman approached him, he grabbed her gold chain. To his shock she fought back forcefully, calling out for her husband and son to come out of the house. Hearing her cries, her husband and son rushed outside to witness the stopped car and the woman struggling with her attacker.
In full view of her family members, the men, having failed at securing the gold chain, got in the car and proceeded to speed off, running over and killing the woman. The 28-year-old driver insisted to police he had not seen the woman, as they sought to escape until the car jumped and he realised something was wrong.
Both men had been known to police, with the 28-year-old being accused of attempted murder during a clash between Roma and Albanians, as well as for numerous thefts, and law infringements, while the 26-year-old had a record for various theft and robbery.
Police tracked the vehicle as the two men spent days on the run, and it was only through negotiations with a third party who arranged for a lawyer, they were able to get the men to turn themselves in, whereby they confessed in detail. “We ask for forgiveness from the victim’s family and all Greeks,” they told police in their statement.
*Image courtesy of korinthostv.gr
