Video reveals the face of the man who shot the chemist

The video released today by the flying squad is dramatic: the robber bursts suddenly into the pharmacy, dressed in black, wearing a cap on his head, with his face unmasked. He shows a bag to the pharmacist, who is on the phone at the time: the robber is taken by surprise, but tries to keep calm. “Sorry, but I’m being robbed,” says the pharmacist. The criminal panics, lifts his gun and, on impulse, shoots the pharmacist in the leg; he then shows the bag to another shop assistant, collects the money, and leaves.

That is how Carmelo Ragusi, the 39-year-old robber, was caught; according to the charges, it was he who robbed the Gagliardelli pharmacy in Viale Milano last 20 October. The closed circuit video of the shop shows him firing point-black, and thanks to these images, the guilty party was caught. The images were sent by the flying squad to other police forces in the days following the robbery. An officer at Varese Prison recognized the robber’s face. The previous day, Carmelo Ragusi had arrived at the prison, after being arrested by the carabinieri, following a robbery in a petrol station in Cunardo.

The forensic team were able to identify a mole on his left cheek in the picture frames, and thereby complete the identikit of Ragusi; this will be important evidence in the trial. During his interrogation in the public prosecutor’s office, on 5 November, the man admitted to carrying out the violent robbery, for which he was remanded in custody on Friday, on request of  the public prosecutor Agostino Abate. Carmelo Ragusi is charged with robbery with violence, possession of illegal weapons and attempted murder.

His arsenal was found in a garage in Luino during a search by the Tax Police; there was a semiautomatic gun with its serial number erased, a 375 Magnum, a C9 Beretta, which was used in the robbery, 250 rounds of ammunition, a balaclava, latex gloves, two knives, 3 pairs of handcuffs and €3000 in cash.

In addition to the robbery at the petrol station in Cunardo, he had carried out a bloody robbery, on 5 June, in a petrol station in the Canton Ticino, during which he shot the owner, who was in a coma for weeks. He is a very dangerous man who acted unmasked, maybe because he had nothing to lose, but also because he knew that he had never previously been identified by the Police Force’s recognition system.