Rabat – Security services in Casablanca arrested on Friday the suspect who appeared in a video violently threatening a policeman preventing him and his accomplice from stealing a motorcycle.
The viral online documenting the moment shows the man holding a long stick as he threatened to beat the policeman who was attempting to seize the stolen motorcycle from the two accomplices.
The video stirred fear and uproar among citizens who expressed concerns about security and an increase in theft incidents across the city of Casablanca.
On Saturday, Morocco’s General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) said that the city’s security services had arrested the suspect who was threatening the police officer in the video.
The suspect is a 24 year-old man with several criminal records, DGSN noted, adding that police arrested the young man in cooperation with the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST).
According to the police report, joint searches and investigations enabled the police to identify the suspect and to arrest him in a rural area near the industrial park of Jorf Lasfar.
Police have put the suspect in custody pending further investigations to uncover more details about the circumstances surrounding the case and to arrest the second suspect, who has already been identified by law enforcement, noted the DGSN statement.
The news comes as police across Morocco commit to a renewed fight against violent crimes.
DGSN’s 2021 annual report indicated a decline in violent crime across Morocco over the past six years. The report notably found that violent crimes did not exceed 4% of the overall number of crimes registered across Morocco last year.
