Teen mini-car gang members confess to crimes

(ANSA) - ROME, 14 OTT - The two teenage members of a mini-car gang that has spread terror on Rome's streets in recent days on Wednesday confessed to attacking at least five other road users including a noted TV and film actor after they were arrested. The two minors—a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old—said they were the perpetrators of the assaults on actor Davide Iacopini and five other people that took place in Rome between October 4 and 5. The pair were identified by Carabinieri and local police officers, acting under the coordination of Rome prosecutors. The youth driving the black mini-car lives in Monteverde, while his friend lives in Testaccio. The case file has now been referred to the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Juvenile Court. One of the individuals reported to the authorities in connection with the assaults involving the microcar is reportedly the son of a Carabinieri officer and, specifically, the vehicle's owner. Investigators were led to the black microcar thanks to the testimony of a mechanic who recounted installing red LEDs near the license plate and applying stickers to the vehicle used by the pair. According to reports, the two were celebrating one of their birthdays between October 4 and 5. They face charges of attempted murder—though they have not been detained—and it will now be up to the Juvenile Prosecutor's Office to evaluate the case against them. An app was found on the mobile phone of one of the minors that tracked movements; it was the type of app parents download to monitor their children. The car involved was located and seized. Incidents involving the black minicar gang' of teenagers involved in an online birthday challenge rose to six as a man said last Friday he had been hit in the street in the capital on the previous Sunday night. The 67-year-old man reported to the Carabinieri station in Rome's Monteverde Nuovo district that, late on the evening of October 4, he was approached by a black microcar carrying two individuals while walking along Viale dei Quattro Venti. The passenger struck him in the side with a plastic pipe. The man, who was near his home, did not seek medical assistance. Rome prosecutors went into a huddle earlier Friday over the suspected mini-car gang that has injured several people in the capital this week including Iacopini, an actor from the hit Roman underworld show Suburra. A meeting was held at the Prosecutor's Office in Rome to take stock of the investigation into the "minicar gang"—specifically regarding the assault on actor Davide Iacopini, who has also appeared in the film on Genoa G8 police brutality Diaz and the satirical TV series Maschi Veri. Genoa-born Iacopini, 42, was struck by a kick delivered by someone in a microcar on October 5th and subsequently hospitalized in serious condition at San Camillo Hospital. He is still in intensive care. (ANSA).
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