The arrest of three people by the National Police for causing a fire with a flare on a sailboat docked at the Alicante Regatta Club has been the most significant police action during a New Year’s Eve that fortunately has passed without serious incidents.
In addition to these arrests, all people of Ukrainian origin, the National Police has arrested another ten individuals during New Year’s Eve, as well as identifying a further 206 in twelve reports made for possession or consumption of drugs in public.
The arrest of the three Ukrainian men took place at around four in the morning, while a patrol was being carried out in the Port of Alicante area. Agents of the Motorcycle Group – the “Rayos” – of the Prevention and Reaction Unit of the National Police saw that a sailboat docked at the Regatta Club was beginning to burn, due to a firework that had been set off seconds before.
The police notified the Fire Brigade and identified the three men, aged between 20 and 35 years, finding among their clothing and in a nearby trash container, a further five fireworks with identical characteristics to the one that was believed to have caused the fire. The men were all arrested for a criminal damage.
Agents from the Scientific Police Brigade will carry out a visual inspection of the boat in order to gather more data about what happened and clarify if there is any relationship with the detainees who stated that they are owners of another boat docked at the same Alicante Regatta Club.
The rest of the arrests made by the National Police on New Year’s Eve were all due to judicial complaints, robbery with violence and intimidation, injuries and attacks on a law enforcement agent.
The Provincial Police confirmed that the balance of New Year’s Eve in Alicante has been “completely normal, without serious or excessively disturbing events, thanks to the joint work between police forces.” The National Police said that it works to prevent the commission of criminal infractions, especially crimes against heritage, as well as to guarantee peaceful coexistence in the different neighbourhoods of the city of Alicante, especially during celebrations as important as New Year’s Eve.
