The bad luck of Antonio, a police sub-inspector: from solving a robbery of a tourist to dying in an accident after colliding with three robbers in Malaga

Sub-Inspector Antonio Ramos , 48, had been fighting crime for decades. He's one of those unsung heroes who patrol the streets day and night to make Spanish towns and cities safer. He did so first in a blue uniform—that of the National Police—and then, over the years, in plain clothes, from the Gotham Group of the National Police in Malaga, to which he was assigned. But as fate would have it, this Wednesday, as he was leaving work, he ran into "the bad guys"—as criminals are known in police slang—for the last time. They were fleeing in the wrong direction along the A-7 and crashed into his car as he was returning home to rest, where his wife and two children were waiting for him. He never made it.

The three robbers, a gang of Albanians, had pulled off what would be their final heist. They had just robbed a pharmacy in Puerto de la Torre , in the Malaga district of Teatinos. This wasn't the first time. The police were investigating them for robbing a dozen pharmacies in the province of Malaga in just four months.

Normally, they smashed the window of the pharmacy they planned to attack using the break-in technique. However, on this occasion, they opted for a different method: first, they disabled the door's security system and, without breaking it, managed to manipulate and open it. Once inside, the three men— hooded and wielding sledgehammers —hit the store's safe with a vengeance, but failed to open it. When the alarm went off at 4:45 a.m., they gave up and fled.

During their escape, while being followed by a police car, the three criminals and Antonio's paths crossed in a head-on collision that resulted in the deaths of all four. Hours earlier, the police officer had participated in an operation in which four other criminals were arrested for robbing a tourist, and he managed to recover their belongings.

The officer had spent the entire night on duty, and as "bad luck" would have it, on his way home, he stumbled upon a police chase he wasn't even involved in, one of his colleagues commented yesterday. "It happened to him just like it could have happened to you or any of us," he lamented. The assailants also died in the collision, and their bodies had to be recovered from the car, a high-end vehicle they had used for the robbery and which, according to initial investigations, could have been stolen .

The accident occurred around 5:30 a.m. as the offenders were trying to speed away from the law enforcement officers who were hot on their heels. The suspects' escape vehicle headed toward the Málaga ring road and, from there, took the exit onto the A-7 motorway, which connects the capital with the Málaga municipality of Torremolinos.

Initial hypotheses suggest that the driver of the robbers' vehicle, upon noticing the police presence in the area, opted to take the first exit and continue fleeing in the opposite direction, traveling several kilometers in a suicidal manner.

As a result of the collision, the car in which the sub-inspector was traveling caught fire, and although several Málaga Local Police officers managed to pull the occupant out, the impact was so severe that paramedics were unable to save his life.

At the same time, the three people who were in the car traveling in the opposite direction, the suspects' vehicle, were released from custody. The car had also caught fire, according to a report from the Malaga City Council Security Department shortly afterward.

The robbers' car was completely burned , and the condition of the bodies made it impossible to definitively identify the occupants, although everything indicates they are the Albanians already under investigation and who were recently involved in the robbery of another pharmacy in Churriana. They also raided the Málaga fire station, where they stole tools that they later used in the robberies.

Police Merit Cross

The Ministry of the Interior, at the suggestion of the Director General of the National Police, Francisco Pardo, has awarded the Police Merit Cross with red distinction to the deceased sub-inspector.

Both the director general and the deputy director of operations (DAO) of the force, José Ángel Jiménez, traveled yesterday to Málaga to accompany the family after the incident, which has caused great commotion in the National Police, according to the Efe news agency.

Police unions demanded that the officer's death be considered an on-duty death, as the return trip to work is included in the workday. They have also called for more resources to combat crime and for it to be considered a high-risk occupation.

"It's gotten out of hand"

The Andalusian government yesterday lamented that security on the Costa del Sol has "stepped out of control" of the Ministry of the Interior, calling for police reinforcements. The Minister of Economy and spokesperson for the Andalusian government, Carolina España, asked the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to "take the security of Andalusia seriously," and "in particular" of the Costa del Sol, because "it has gotten out of hand." "It cannot be that day in, day out, we find ourselves with events that are creating enormous insecurity and damaging the image" of the Costa del Sol and the region, she stated.

Pharmacists' concern

For its part, the Malaga College of Pharmacists sent a letter to the Government, the Regional Government of Andalusia, and the Malaga City Council demanding increased security after recording a wave of robberies at these establishments.

The group's president, Francisco Criado, explained to EFE that in the last month there have been "four or five" incidents in various districts of the capital, involving a similar pattern of behavior: "at night and searching for automated teller machines"—those that give change—to steal the money inside.

These robberies have generated concern in the sector, to the point that the Association had already drafted a letter requesting increased security this Wednesday, before the robbery at the last pharmacy.