Man charged with 17 thefts over two months in St Paul’s Bay

Police have charged a man in connection with 17 thefts that took place in over the past two months.

Inspectors Warren Galea and Francesco Mizzi together with prosecutors Nathaniel Falzon and Martina Calleja arraigned 35-year-old Luka Perkovic from Croatia earlier on Friday.

Inspector Galea told Magistrate Noel Bartolo how the Qawra police station had been investigating a stream of reports of thefts from vehicles parked in St. Paul’s Bay, which started in September.

On November 1st and 2nd, two reports were lodged in quick succession. In one case, where the person filing the report had chased the thief but couldn’t catch up with him. The description he gave matched the defendant. CCTV footage seemed to confirm that the thief was Perkovic.

Police officers went to an apartment block where Perkovic was thought to reside but did not find him there. Perkovic was spotted by a police patrol and attempted to escape. A passer-by told the police that he was hiding in the common area of a private garage complex, where the man was taken into custody.

Perkovic’s lawyer Joe Bonnici, entered a plea of not guilty for the defendant, but did not request bail, instead asking that he receive treatment for drug addiction while in custody.