Vigilance, pickpockets are back at tram stations in Montpellier: we explain their modus operandi

Des adolescentes à qui l’on donnerait le bon Dieu sans confession. Midi Libre – Illustration RDH

Prenez garde, avec l’arrivée des beaux jours et des touristes qui vont avec, la police nationale enregistre en ce moment une recrudescence de vols à la carte bancaire.

Be vigilant, pickpockets are back in Montpellier and, in their wake, an increase in bank card thefts near tram stations has been noted.

The procedure is always the same. These teenage girls are waiting for someone to use the TaM ticket sales terminals to retrieve the secret code.

Lots of skill

Then, usually in pairs, they attack the victim by stealing their payment card. The first jostles her slightly while the second delicately slips her hand into her pocket, wallet or handbag, to leave with the coveted smart card.

The victims see nothing but fire. The rest, we know it, the authors go to withdraw money from the ATM and that's it.

450 euros withdrawn

This Sunday, June 9, around 2 p.m., a 77-year-old Parisian paid the price when she had just purchased her transport ticket, rue de Maguelone.

A group of little Bosnian girls actually circled around her then one of them took her bank card, before going to withdraw 450 euros from distributor.

Money returned to victim

Luckily for the victim, the police officers from the anti-crime squad had been notified by agents from the city's urban supervision center (CSU) who had spotted their scheme.

The suspect, barely 15 years old, was thus able to be arrested and placed in police custody. After admitting the facts, she was referred to the Montpellier juvenile prosecutor's office. As for the money, it was returned to the retiree.

Flagrant crime of burglary

In the same vein, two teenage girls claiming to be aged 14 and 16 have been in custody since Tuesday June 11. seen at the central police station in Montpellier.

Since the morning, they had been spotted in the commune of Lattes, by agents from the urban supervision center, who suspected them of plotting something bad.

They were finally é arrested à 5 p.m. by the Bac, in flagrante delicto of burglary in a residential area. An investigation is underway.

The next day, at the end of the morning, again, with two new robbers, of the same nationality, again spotted by the CSU while they were interested in people who were interested in ;affairing to collect their transport tickets at the TaM terminals.

The two suspects did not hang around and, as soon as they committed theft against a 73-year-old Parisian this time, they took to their heels. They were finally located a few minutes later, on the rue Vendémiaire side of Port Marianne, in front of a bank.

180 euros of scratch games

On the wise advice of CSU agents, the "baqueux" were able to find the victim's bank card which they had carelessly placed in a trash can. Then they proceeded to their arrest.

If the youngest, aged 15, was exonerated, the 16-year-old admitted the entire facts and explained that she had come from rsquo;purchase 180 euros worth of scratch games out of the 200 euros she had withdrawn.

Seven different aliases

Placed in police custody, although she refused to submit to reporting, the investigation established that she was known under multiple identities, sometimes major, sometimes minor.

This Tuesday, while in police custody, she also gave up seven different aliases. Same offense, same sanction, she was also referred to the juvenile prosecutor's office.

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