(Newser)
– It’s like “having a thief in the family,” says the deputy mayor of the small Italian island of Capraia. Like the Guardian reports, refers to dozens of burglaries on the island during the winter, when only about 400 residents live there. Unfortunately, the sparse population also applies to the police department, which has a total of three officers. Crimes seem to be well planned. In the latest version, the thieves turned off a security camera at a tobacco store and came out of the safe with more than $ 70,000. In another job, perhaps inside, they broke into the home of Deputy Mayor Fabio Mazzei and stole his safe, along with hidden jewelry. “They attacked the right day because they knew I was going to Pisa to pay a visit,” he told a local newspaper. “They knew the house very well.”
The population of the islands usually multiplies during the summer tourist season, but in this case the thieves seem to have reversed the usual playbook by chasing locals instead of visitors. One factor: the island’s only bank closed last year, forcing people to keep their money at home. Capraia is one of the seven islands that make up the Tuscan archipelago, says the New York News, who last year (in pre-pandemic days) sang the praises of a restored 16th-century fort on the island as a holiday rental. The island is closer to the French island of Corsica than the mainland of Italy and is only accessible by boat. Mayor Mardi Bessi says the three officers on the island are doing the best they can. “The risk now is that the sense of community we’ve always had is damaged,” the mayor says. (Read more stories from Italy.)