Police have arrested a man who is alleged to have sexually assaulted a female British tourist and robbed an elderly couple from the UK on the same day in Tenerife
Police have arrested a man who is alleged to have sexually assaulted a female British tourist and violently robbed an elderly couple from the UK on the same day.
The suspect is said to have used a martial arts “lion killer” chokehold to overpower the woman in Tenerife after pretending to help her look for her lost mobile phone.
On the same day as the alleged sex attack in the Las Veronicas area of Playa de las Americas in the south of Tenerife, the man allegedly targeted an 89-year-old British man and his 79-year-old wife. Both tourists were hospitalised after the suspect lashed out at them in anger when the woman threw her husband’s watch into the bushes after it came off during a struggle.
The suspect has also been linked to another incident three days earlier on March 20 when a Swedish tourist was mugged for her necklace. Sources said today the suspect had incredibly been released on bail after going before a duty judge instead of being remanded to prison pending charges and trial.
A spokesman for Spain’s National Police said: “Officers have arrested the suspected author of a crime of sexual assault and two robberies with violence committed in the south of Tenerife.
“The first incident took place towards the end of March in the Las Veronicas area. A young woman who had lost her mobile phone started looking for it in the vicinity with a man who had offered to help her.
“Taking advantage of the fact they were in a secluded and lonely place, the individual attacked her by surprise, using a technique known as a ‘lion killer chokehold which left her semi-conscious, and then sexually assaulting her. The victim alerted police and provided images taken the same night in which the alleged aggressor appeared, which proved key in the advance of the investigation.
“Officers were separately investigating two robberies with violence in the same municipality of Arona, one of them the same day as the sexual assault and another three days earlier.
“In both cases, the areas where the incidents occurred, as well as the physical description of the suspect and the extreme violence employed all matched. In one of the robberies the victims were an elderly couple. The mugger tried to steal the man’s watch, and a tussle occurred between both, which ended with the watch on the floor.
“At this moment the man’s wife picked it up and threw it into an area of bushes to avoid it being taken. This provoked a violent reaction by the attacker who assaulted both victims with his fists and his feet, managing finally to take a bag full of their shopping that they were carrying.
“A female witness managed to take a photograph of the mugger, which ended up in the hands of police investigators. The other mugging was similar and involved the assailant grabbing the victim violently by the neck and managing to rip off the necklace she was carrying.”
This is a Breaking News story. You’ll be more likely to see our stories when any big news breaks in future by simply by clicking this link. You can also join The Mirror’s WhatsApp Community or follow us on Google News, Flipboard, Apple News, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads – or visit The Mirror homepage.
