A heavily armed gang wearing a variety of masks, including one portraying the Joker, robbed a supermarket ATM while its stash of cash was being replenished, shooting and injuring two people while escaping in a daring morning heist in Brazil.
The gang arrived at the supermarket in a black vehicle during the early morning hours as reported by Globo.com. The neighborhood of Mineirão in Sorocaba, a city in the south of Brazil is where the robbery took place. According to the supermarket owner, an armored car was servicing the ATM in the store when the masked men arrived, including one wearing a Clown Prince of Crime mask. They fired their weapons several times, hitting a guard and a customer, and grabbed several drawers full of money before making their escape in the waiting car.
The guard was hit in the armpit and leg but was saved from grievous injury due to the bulletproof vest he was wearing. The customer was struck in the foot as they were just arriving at the scene of the crime. Both were taken to a nearby hospital complex for treatment. At least 20 shots were fired by the gang armed with pistols and a submachine gun. Several shells and casings were collected which were taken by the Civil Police for processing.
In addition to a Joker mask, the security footage shows another that references the Spanish television crime series La casa de papel, or Money Heist, as it is called in English. The series follows a group of eight robbers who undertake an ambitious plan to rob the Royal Mint of Spain of almost $1 billion and wear masks that portray the Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. All of the masked gang members involved in the real-world robbery escaped and the Specialized Division of Criminal Investigations in Sorocaba is investigating.
This is the second crime in Brazil this year to include a reference to a DC Comics character. In January 2022 the so-called Aquaman of Crime was apprehended by police in a coastal area of São Paolo after taking part in a complex drug-smuggling operation. Joaquín Francisco Gimenez utilized his scuba diving ability and knowledge of cargo ships to smuggle drugs in "sea boxes", large compartments beneath the waterline that capture seawater for the cooling of the ship's engines.
"He had appropriate tools. He had reasonable equipment and he had the main thing, which was the knowledge to make this dive," said Rogério Lages, an agent with the federal police, about the operation. "They open the bars, put the drug inside, tie and close the bars. So from the outside, you can't see," Lages explained.
Source: Globo.com