Violent robbery on the street in Florence involving a 91-year-old man, Giampaolo Matteuzzi, now retired but a notable track and field champion in his youth.
A bloody robbery among passers-by, “but no one helped me”, says Matteuzzi who as a sprinter measured himself over short distances and in 1954 was Italian champion in the 4X100 relay.
The thief’s ferocious action, as reported by Corriere Fiorentino, was immortalized by the images of a hotel security camera: Matteuzzi is seen robbed of his watch in broad daylight in via Orti Oricellari, hit with merciless slaps and punches in street, among the people who, however, did not lift a finger to help the 91-year-old. However, Matteuzzi reacted and defended himself, hitting the criminal several times with an envelope. Then from the images you can see the two falling to the ground. The 91-year-old takes the worst of it and is injured.
No passers-by nor shopkeepers in the area came to his aid; in the area where the robbery took place, located between the Santa Maria Novella railway station and the Cascine, many businesses are run by foreigners, just as the robber was a foreigner. The video also portrays two passers-by who witnessed the scene in fear and dismay.
“There were people on the street but no one helped me,” Matteuzzi said bitterly. An indifference and also a fear that favored the escape of the attacker who moved away towards the Cascine with the loot, “a watch gift from the Agnelli family for my 30 years as a manager at Fiat”, recalled the elderly man. Then the Florence flying squad managed to find the artefact in Arezzo three days after the robbery which took place on 6 October. Investigations continue to arrest the culprit. He has got the clock back but one thing still disturbs Matteuzzi: “I can’t resign myself to the idea that Florence has changed. The indifference of the people is striking” he says, repeating “nobody intervened”.
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