Second man arrested over El Mirador jewellery store robbery

The Policía Nacional has arrested a second man for his alleged involvement in the robbery carried out on Tuesday 7 July at the José Luis jewellery store, located in the El Mirador shopping centre in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. According to police, the arrest took place on the night of Thursday 9 July, following investigative work that led officers to locate and detain the suspect.

With this arrest, two people have now been identified and detained as alleged perpetrators of a robbery with violence and intimidation, according to the version released by the Policía Nacional and reported by Europa Press and Canarias7. The first arrest had taken place on the day of the robbery itself, as eldiario.es reported.

Discrepancy over the second suspect's age

There is a discrepancy between sources regarding the age of the second person arrested. According to police sources cited by eldiario.es, the man is around 30 years old. La Provincia, however, reports that he is 29 and that he was the driver of the stolen car used in the raid. Regarding the first suspect, La Provincia states he is a 22-year-old with a prior record for burglary and robbery with violence.

How the raid unfolded

According to police information reported across various outlets, the assault took place on Tuesday when several hooded men entered the jewellery store and, using a fire extinguisher and blunt objects, smashed a number of display cases to steal various pieces of jewellery. Sources agree that four hooded individuals forced their way into the premises. During the raid, the shop's employees managed to leave the store and no personal injuries have been reported.

The robbers fled in a vehicle that had been reported stolen in the Ojos de Garza area, which officers located shortly afterwards as part of the police operation launched after the alarm was raised. Inside the vehicle, items linked to the robbery were found, including jewellery tags, a display stand, a fire extinguisher and other objects deemed of interest to the investigation.

According to La Provincia, the second suspect is alleged to have been involved in the theft of three cars on the Monday night from a vehicle rental company at the airport: a Mazda Skyactiv, which was found on Tuesday morning; a Volkswagen Taigo, which had still not been located; and a Cupra Formentor, which, according to that outlet, was the vehicle used to travel to the shopping centre and escape after the robbery.

Remanded in pre-trial detention

On Saturday, the duty magistrate at the Tribunal de Instancia of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria ordered that both men be remanded in provisional custody without bail, eldiario.es reported, citing sources from the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Canarias. Both are being investigated for robbery with force on premises open to the public using dangerous instruments, and for membership of a criminal group.

The investigation, led by the Brigada Provincial de Policía Judicial and supported by the Grupo de Policía Judicial at the Comisaría de Distrito Sur, remains open with the aim of fully establishing the facts, recovering the stolen jewellery and identifying the remaining individuals involved.

According to information published by La Provincia, officers are examining a possible link between the suspects and other raids carried out on the island this year, including a robbery in May at a supermarket in Tafira Alta, an assault in June on a jewellery store at the Cita shopping centre in Playa del Inglés, and a robbery in April at a jewellery store in Carrizal. This has not been confirmed by other sources consulted.