A TEENAGER has been arrested after two tourists were attacked in their hotel rooms on the Canary Island Fuerteventura.
A youngster has been accused of seriously wounding the women in separate assaults on the island, which left blood smeared around the rooms.
Guardia Civil M’InteriorPolice released photos showing a bloodied hotel room where one of the attacks happened[/caption]
Blood was also smeared on the door to one of the hotel roomsGuardia Civil M’Interior
Detectives released graphic photos showing bed sheets drenched in blood and puddles on the floor.
They said the victims were staying at separate hotels in the resort of Costa Calma, known for its beautiful child-friendly family beach.
One of the victims was hospitalised with injuries to her head, hands and arms.
Neither of their nationalities have been released.
The two brutal attacks happened seven months apart, in December and June, but similarities between them led cops to make a link.
CCTV footage of a figure sprinting away from one of the hotels was released alongside the pictures, and police say they used this to help them identify the suspect along with clothes and a mobile they seized.
The suspect was arrested a month after the second assault and has been described as a minor – but his exact age not released.
He has been remanded to a youth detention centre by a judge pending an ongoing criminal investigation.
Police have not yet offered any information about what they think motivated the attacks.
Confirming the arrest as part of Operation Praktiker, a spokesman for the Civil Guard said: “The Civil Guard in Fuerteventura has arrested a minor as the alleged perpetrator of two crimes of serious wounding in Costa Calma in the municipality of Pajara.
“The victims are two women who were staying at hotels in the area.
“The investigation began as the result of an assault on a woman on June 23 this year.
“The victim was attacked inside her hotel room, suffering serious injuries to her head, hands and arms.
“She had to be rushed to Fuerteventura General Hospital to receive emergency medical attention.
“This incident generated great social alarm, intensified by messages the victim subsequently published on social media.
Blood stains the bed sheets and lies in puddles on the floorGuardia Civil M’Interior
GettyThe attacks happened at two different hotels in Costa Calma on Fuerteventura, seven months apart[/caption]
“Officers began by analysing images from CCTV in the area.
“They checked information with workers in nearby hotels, people who had been staying in the hotels around the dates under investigation and local residents and employees of nearby business premises, making background checks and verifying possible links with similar incidents.
“The analysis of the images enabled investigators to relate the June assault with another similar incident which occurred on December 16 last year, in which another woman was attacked in her hotel room, also in Costa Calma and very near to the scene of the second assault.
“In both cases a similar modus operandi was used.
“After comparing the security camera recordings, investigators concluded the same person had entered both rooms and caused the serious injuries the women inside suffered.”
The arrest was made on July 18, although details of the case have only just been made public.
The Civil Guard spokesman said: “The arrest occurred after a court-ordered search of the suspect’s home.
“Clothes he allegedly wore the night of the assaults were recovered as well as different objects possibly linked to the physical attacks.
“Mobile phones were also confiscated so they could be analysed.
“The youngster has been remanded to the Tabares Juvenile Centre in Tenerife.”
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