A 20-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested by the Guardia Civil after breaking into 39 cars during one night in Guardamar del Segura.
The robbery spree took place on October 16 and the thief was identified after trying to force the front door of a restaurant which had a security system that captured an image of his face.
He was remanded into custody after appearing before a Torrevieja judge.
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The man had previous robbery convictions and other crimes which he served time for in prison.
He reportedly is a drug addict who was looking for items in the parked cars that he could be sold to get cash to buy narcotics.
The thief struck along a route of around two and a half kilometres between Calle Arenas and Avenida de Peru.
During the early hours of October 16, the Guardamar Policia Local and the Guardia Civil launched a special operation to catch the perpetrator.
A police patrol managed to intercept him but he broke free and run off.
He dropped a hammer used to break the car windows which later analysed for fingerprints.
The man had his face hidden with a balaclava and a cap, so officers could not identify him at that particular moment.
His identity was then confirmed when he was caught on camera unsuccessfully trying to break into a restaurant.
He was found hours later and was still in the same clothes that he wore during his early morning crimewave.
A Guardia Civil statement said: “The coordination of the intervening officers and the speed of their actions were decisive in identifying and locating the suspect.”
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