/ 12 July 2005

Naked robber scares Latvian beach-goers

Latvian police have detained a thief on a lonely beach who walked up to young women stark naked, scared them and then stole their personal belongings, police said on Tuesday.

”Two girls complained that they had been robbed on a beach by a naked man,” said Guntis Skride, spokesperson of Riga municipal police.

The girls — 16 and 17 years old — turned to the police on Monday after they had been sunbathing on Bolderaja beach in a suburb of the Latvian capital, Riga, and were robbed.

”The women said that a man who was naked apart from wearing a blue baseball cap came up to them, scared them and stole personal belongings,” the police spokesperson said.

Later on Monday afternoon, another 29-year-old woman also complained that she had been robbed by a naked man.

Police said the nudity may have been a tactic to scare the women and make them run away.

A 47-year-old suspect has been arrested.

”At the time of his arrest he wasn’t naked, he had red trunks on,” Skride said.

Police found three cellphones in the man’s bag, which may have been stolen on the beach. — Sapa-AFP