ARCHIVED - Arrests in Calpe after 82 year old woman is hurt in violent bag snatch

The two men have reportedly been arrested six times in 15 days for a series of crimes in the Marina Alta, Alicante province.

Police in Calpe have arrested two "prolific offenders" after an 82-year-old Belgian woman was injured during a violent street robbery in which the suspects allegedly sped up behind the pensioner on a stolen moped and forcibly stole her handbag.

The men - a 26-year-old Spaniard and a Moroccan, aged 18 - then reportedly tried to use the victim's credit card at local shops.

The Guardia Civil in Alicante received a call from a witness reporting that a "robbery with violence" had just taken place in Calpe on June 20, and officers in the town were sent to the scene where they found the distressed and injured victim, who told them two young men had "forcibly snatched" her handbag and fled on a moped.

During the struggle, she sustained injuries to her arm and was treated at Calpe Health Centre.

A few hours later, the suspects were caught trying to use the woman's stolen credit card in a local shop and were arrested, where it became apparent they had been detained half a dozen times in a fortnight - with dozens of arrests for fraud, theft and robbery between them.

They appeared in court in Denia, and were released with precautionary measures, but just two hours later, one of the men - it's not clear which - allegedly stole a motorbike and was re-arrested.

He was back in court today, Wednesday, June 30, and remanded straight into custody.

IMAGE: Guardia Civil