Armed robbers have made off with over £18,000 in Argentine pesos from Lionel Messi‘s wife’s family supermarket after targeting a cousin of the famous mother-of-three.
The female relative of Antonela Roccuzzo, named locally as 23-year-old Agustina Scalia, was transporting over £18,000 in Argentinian pesos from the family supermarket, in Lavelle, near the centre of Rosario, to a nearby bank when they got robbed on Wednesday morning.
The criminals fired a shot at the car before fleeing following the violent robbery, and pictures from the scene show a bullet lodged in the side of the vehicle.
Two assailants are understood to have got out of a white car, believed to be a Ford Focus, with tinted windows in the city centre and approached the black Chevrolet Onix that Agustina was driving, alongside two employees of the supermarket, one male and one female.
The robbers then smashed one of the car’s window and grabbed two rucksacks, each filled with four million pesos in cash, before running off.
Fortunately no-one was seriously injured, although the occupants of the Chevrolet were treated for shock.
The robbers took over £18,000 worth of Argentine pesos from the car, which Agustina and the two other passengers were driving
Agustina and the other people in the car were treated at the scene by paramedics, and police have put up traffic cones around the scene
The robbers fired at least one bullet during the shock robbery
#AHORA | 🔴 Confuso episodio policial: atienden a una mujer.
👉 Una mujer sufrió un intento de robo en Lavalle y Cochabamba. Vecinos escucharon un disparo. Las dos personas que viajaban en el vehículo se encuentran en estado de shock y fuera de peligro. La policía está… pic.twitter.com/nH3Ome22J5
— elTresTV (@elTresTV) November 22, 2023
Marianela, a Único worker who was inside the car during the robbery, told local media: ‘We were going from the store to the bank to deposit money. They broke our windows and took our bags.
‘At the moment when everything started I only heard impacts. When we got out we saw the bullet impact.’
She added that she was confused as to how the robbers knew they were carrying the large amount of money.
Police are still investigating the robbery, and said that the assailants used ‘at least one car’
Police chief Diego Santamaria said: ‘The shot occurred apparently when the vehicle tried to speed away from the scene’
The attack took place in Lavelle, near the centre of the Argentine city of Rosario