Residents demand action against burglar
Residents demand action against ‘untouchable’ burglar
ANGRY residents of a Marina Alta town are demanding the authorities end a reign of terror by a female cat burglar said to have broken into ‘countless’ homes.
The woman - who has three distinctive tattoos of paw prints down her left jaw line - brazenly targets houses, apartments and villas in broad daylight but has also been caught red-handed during night time operations.
Formerly denounced by scores of victims - some allege she is responsible for a three-figure catalogue of crime in Jávea and neighbouring communities - she has been repeatedly arrested but never remanded in custody by the courts.
In a new twist this week, the Cat was said to be operating across the area with her sister and an unknown male.
Residents now use social media to warn of her movements and warn others to be on their guard.
The ‘Arrest Her’ group on Facebook has more than 700 members and has sent a dossier - including crime numbers following complaints to the Guardia Civil - to the town hall asking for action and protection for long-suffering residents.
One ‘wanted poster’ used by the group, which shows photographs of the Cat and her sister demands: ‘Take them off the streets’ and ‘Time to make out neighbourhood safe again’.
Costa Blanca News is unable to identify the Cat for legal reasons. One contributor to the action group simply tagged her as ‘paw print tattoo girl’.
Sleep
One victim, Francesca, who lives alone in a ground floor apartment on Jávea’s Avenida Augusta, said she is still have problems sleeping after confronting the burglar in her kitchen late at night earlier this month.
Later, Guardia officers responding to her emergency call said it was the fifth burglary she was alleged to have committed the same night - the Cat was later arrested with a money box containing €40.
Francesca told CBNews the intruder had scaled a garden fence, climbed a ledge and squeezed her hand through a gap between glass and the wall in a utility area to reach a door handle and gain access.
“It was after 23.00 and I heard a noise, a noise woke me up,” she said.
“She was very noisy and it is obviously one of her mistakes but a real plus for me. I thought it was my neighbours arriving home but then I heard the door in the kitchen; the handle always makes a noise, and I thought ‘that’s my door’.”
She added: “I went into the kitchen and she was trying to creep inside. I shouted ‘who are you?’ and ‘what are you doing in my house?’ and she just said that she needed to call a taxi.
“The police later said she always uses an excuse; they say it is happening everyday and they are fed up with her.
Taxi
“I told her to get out of the house and I was calling the police but she insisted: ‘No, I have to ring a taxi’. I shouted I was calling the police - she kept saying ‘no’ and she would go to the petrol station to call a cab.
“Suddenly, she was just like a cat. She ran out and jumped back over the fence. I recognised her face because of the tattoos - she acts very normal because she knows the police will catch her but cannot touch her.”
Francesca added: “I am still not sleeping very well; I sleep with the lights on because I think she is still around out there - what happens if the victims are elderly or people who are unwell? It’s not safe.”
The action group repeats the ‘need to call a taxi’ excuse; another common ruse used by the Cat to gain sympathy is asking for a glass of water.
Commonly posted complaints repeat the feeling of ‘anger and helplessness’ and accuse the Cat of ‘terrorising’ residents and describe her as a ‘wretch’ and as ‘scum’. The group has also warned she has threatened violence in the past and was alleged to have produced a knife on one occasion.
Another member of the action group told CBN: “It seems this is only going to come to an end if there is a real tragedy; a victim will be physically hurt or suffer a heart attack...or she will suffer a fall trying to get into a home.”