Bologna, August 10, 2026 – They left Bologna by train on Saturday morning, alone, and were then seen entering an apartment in Padua two boys aged 10 and 11. The landlady noticed them, having seen one of the two on the apartment balcony. The woman, who was at home with her partner, had left the patio door of the living room open due to the heat. One of the two had climbed over the balcony railing and was trying to get into the house from there when she noticed and raised the alarm.
The children had no identification
The two fled, but the woman’s partner chased them through the neighborhood streets: he managed to catch up with them and brought them back to the apartment, holding them until a patrol car arrived, called at 113. When the officers arrived, the two children had no identification and could not convincingly explain their presence in the area.
Both are below the age of criminal responsibility
In the backpack of the one seen on the balcony, the police found a 26-centimeter flathead screwdriver and a mobile phone. Taken to the police station and fingerprinted, the two were identified: one is 10 years old, the other 11. They told the police they are cousins and had left Bologna together by train in the early morning hours. Both are below the age of criminal responsibility.
No family member was available to pick them up: entrusted to a reception facility in Padua
Since no family member was available to pick them up from Bologna — a relative contacted said that the parents were on vacation — the police informed the juvenile prosecutors of Bologna and Venice and entrusted the two children to a reception facility in Padua, where they were taken in charge by a social worker.
