Italy detains 2 Americans, 19, in slaying of policeman
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ROME — Italian police said Saturday that two 19-year-old American tourists have confessed to fatally stabbing an Italian paramilitary policeman who was investigating the theft of a bag with a cellphone.
In a statement, Carabinieri officers investigating the death early Friday of officer Mario Cerciello Rega, 35, said the American men were detained for alleged murder and attempted extortion after being questioned overnight. They were taken to a Rome jail as the investigation continues. Italian authorities have not released their names.
The two had snatched the bag of a drug dealer in Rome after the man apparently gave them “a different substance” instead of cocaine, according to an Italian investigator who spoke on condition of anonymity since the probe was ongoing.
The Carabinieri said the Americans demanded a 100-euro ($112) ransom and a gram of cocaine to return the bag. The alleged dealer called police, saying he had arranged a meeting with the thieves to get his bag and cellphone back. Police says there was a scuffle at the rendezvous site and the policeman was stabbed eight times, dying shortly afterward in the hospital.
