Bologna, July 23, 2026 – “This is a robbery! Stay calm and everything will be fine”. Just like in the movies. It was by shouting this phrase that today at lunchtime, shortly before 12:30 PM, two people with their faces covered by neck warmers pulled up to their noses burst into the branch of the Banca di Imola on Porrettana in Casalecchio di Reno. It seems that by entering through the bank’s basement entrance, the criminals, accompanied by a third person who allegedly remained outside the building to act as a ‘lookout’, entered when there were a total of ten people in the branch.
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Five employees and five customers. Ten hostages in total, who were threatened by the robbers and forced into the bank’s vault, where they were then locked in by the criminals but not before being stripped of their wallets. Everything happened in a few moments, while the security alarm blared wildly and the frightened citizens of the area bombarded 112 with calls for help.
Loot of 50 thousand euros
A matter of minutes. Those taken by the carabinieri to rush to the bank, spent by the criminals to grab as much cash as possible and then flee into the street with a haul that is being quantified, but which should be around 50 thousand euros. The three men allegedly escaped after the robbery, for a short distance on foot and then aboard a vehicle parked nearby. According to the very first reconstructions of the heist, the men were not armed during the robbery or at least did not resort to violence against the ten hostages. Only people in a strong state of shock or with an accidental injury, for an employee, in an attempt to exit the vault through a manhole, is what the carabinieri found themselves facing once they stormed the branch.
Movie scenes in Casalecchio
Immediately after the escape of the criminals, in fact, “like in the movies” residents and workers of the Porrettana area assure, at least five police cars from the carabinieri company of Casalecchio and the provincial Radiomobile arrived with sirens blaring. With them, with weapons drawn and wearing bulletproof vests, special units and the Api (first intervention units) were also called to the scene. The Carabinieri first secured the area by cordoning off the entire bank building and, subsequently, stormed inside by breaking a window at the back of the branch. Once inside, however, there was no trace of the robbers, and the hostages were freed from the vault where they had been confined, before the robbers also sealed the bank doors behind them. The carabinieri’s scientific investigation division also intervened on site for the necessary surveys, while the investigation coordinated by the duty prosecutor Marco Imperato is now entrusted to the carabinieri of the Casalecchio di Reno company and the Bologna Investigative Unit, with the acquisition of surveillance camera footage from the bank and the area already completed by the carabinieri.
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Siulp: “Solidarity with the employees and customers involved”
“The Siulp of Bologna expresses solidarity with the employees and customers involved in the robbery committed this morning at the Banca di Imola branch along the Porrettana, in Casalecchio di Reno – declares the provincial secretary of Siulp Bologna, Pasquale Palma –. The timely intervention of the Carabinieri, who rescued the people present while the search for those responsible continues, once again demonstrates the professionalism and value of the police forces engaged daily in protecting the community, often in conditions of shortage of personnel and resources. But this serious episode strongly brings back to the center of attention an issue that Siulp has been denouncing for years: Casalecchio di Reno needs a stable presence of the State Police. Today it went well thanks to the rapid intervention of law enforcement, but security cannot be entrusted solely to the ability to respond in an emergency.”
Coisp: “Investments and personnel are needed to guarantee security”
“What happened confirms what Coisp had already highlighted over the years. Casalecchio needs a strengthening of the State Police presence. For this reason, we had supported the recent proposal by the Mayor of Valsamoggia to establish a Police Station that would also cover the Casalecchio area. Today, that request seems even more relevant. Investments, personnel, and permanent garrisons are needed to ensure greater security for citizens and an adequate response to the needs of the territory,” declares Leo Pesce, Provincial General Secretary of Coisp Bologna.
Sap: “A police station is necessary in the area”
“As Sap, we reiterate the importance of having a police station in Casalecchio. A necessity that has already received the favorable opinion of the municipal administration and for which they would have already identified a suitable structure. One could also consider a simple outpost, if a full police station is not feasible. However, we believe that due to its territorial and economic aspects, its proximity to the highway, and the increase in criminal phenomena, the city of Casalecchio urgently needs a police station,” stated Tonino Guglielmi, provincial secretary of the Bolognese Sap.
