The Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has sentenced two men to three years in prison for burglary after they were accused of stealing a cash register, which turned out to be empty, from a business in Arona, and to pay almost 250 euros for the damages caused.
In imposing this sentence on each of them, it was taken into account that both are repeat offenders, with several previous convictions for similar offenses, according to the judgment.
The Court has found that the two acted in agreement and were guided by the desire to obtain unjust enrichment when, at around 4:50 a.m. on May 4, 2024, they went to an establishment in a shopping center in the south of Tenerife with the intention to steal.
While one broke the glass door of the premises with a sledgehammer and a stone to gain entry, the other stayed outside keeping watch.
Once inside, he seized the cash register and left, checking outside the store that it contained no money, so he discarded it on La Troya beach in front of the shopping center where it was recovered by the police.
This accused was arrested two days later and was in pre-trial detention when the trial was held last March.
The defendant declared that he acted alone but admitted that he had coincidentally met the other accused inside the mall, while going to the beach, although the latter said they had not even seen each other, let alone that he had been keeping watch during the theft.
The convicted was arrested around five in the morning on the beach, where he claimed to have arrived from Las Verónicas, accused of stealing a mobile phone.
The Court did not believe either version, relying on security camera footage from the establishment, one inside and one outside, and DNA evidence.
In the images, one of the defendants is seen breaking the glass, entering the store, and leaving with a cash register and blood on his arms, while the other is outside and assists him four minutes later.
When the first was arrested, it was found that he had injuries on his left arm and the other was identified from the recorded images, concluding that they are guilty of burglary at a public establishment outside opening hours.
The Santa Cruz de Tenerife Prosecutor’s Office, at the end of the hearing, reduced its initial sentence requests from 4 to 3 years for the one who assumed authorship and from 5 to 4 for the second, as both are repeat offenders in this type of burglary offense.
