At least 16 people had their mobile phones stolen while watching a show at the Music Park nightclub in Balneario Camboriu on the north coast last weekend. The trawler appeared during the Viva Samba event, between Friday evening (9) and Saturday morning (10).

At least 16 cell phones were found, other victims were unable to restore the devices – Photo: Pexels / Ilustrativa / Reproduction / ND

Student Gabrieli Quintana de Medeiros was one of the victims. She says she was with her girlfriend, sister and brother-in-law at the Di Proposito group show when they decided to go to the space bar for a drink and also go to the bathroom.

Around 1am, the queue for the women’s restroom was long and intermingled with the line for drinks.

Gabrieli’s friend, Sofia Alves Vasconcellos Bello, says they were waiting to go to the bathroom when a girl appeared at the scene.

“Some girls came and told us that there is another women’s restroom back there. But I was not going to get out of the queue, because I had been there for a while. My girlfriend said she’ll take a look. In the meantime, she called me in the middle of the crowd and said that there was no toilet there,” Sophia says.

A few minutes later, Gabrieli realized that her cell phone was missing. She reports that she kept her cell phone in her bag, and that when she put her hand back into the bag, she realized that the device was no longer there.

“I started looking in my pockets, looking on the floor, I couldn’t find it. I went to security to see if there was anything they could do and they told me there was nothing they could do,” he says.

Victims say they soon realized that other people were in the same situation.

According to them, about ten people reported the theft of mobile phones. Gabrieli says that the victims followed the same pattern: they were women with purses who were queuing for the toilet.

Sophia reports that a couple moments later showed up pushing another couple who wanted to steal another cell phone. Several phones were found in the woman’s bag.

The victim recalls that at that time the municipal security of Balneario Camboriu had already arrived at the scene.

According to city guards, 4 cell phones were found in a man, 3 in another man and 9 in a woman’s purse.

Several victims recognized their devices. With the act, the suspects were taken to the police department for clarification of the circumstances.

The civilian police said they made three arrests at the scene of the crime, after handing over GM, two men and a woman for the offense of skilled cell phone theft. According to the civilian police, 13 victims were heard.

Although several cell phones were seized, Gabrieli was not concerned. “My friend’s cell phone was not among them. And two or three more people who weren’t there either,” Sofia says.

At the same time, the victims believe that not all those involved in the trawler were detained. Gabrieli said that after the theft, he received several text messages about the thieves’ attempt to gain access to the mobile phone.

Sofia also says she saw a social media profile selling used cell phones and that one of them was identical to her friend’s and was stolen. The two suspect the profile of being involved in the robbery and sale of mobile phones in the region.

Gabrieli explained how, in addition to material damage, what happened over the weekend caused him psychological damage.

“The cell phone these days, everyone knows it’s an extension of our lives, right, it has a bank, it has privacy, it has a photo, it has a friend, it has a family, it has everything. And we are so susceptible to the fact that someone will come there and invade your privacy in a matter of minutes, ”explains the student.

They searched, on the advice of BC Music Park, they sent a note about what happened.

“It is known that the practice of stealing cell phones, unfortunately, is repeated throughout the country and, of course, took place in several nightclubs in the region. In view of this, British Columbia Music Park has invested in technology, team training, security team training and operational processes to curb this practice. Taking into account the entire investment process, the house was able to locate the gang responsible for the thefts on the morning of the 10th, which led to their arrest, the return of most of the stolen devices, and preventing the continuation of this practice in the region.”