Night of terror at Neil El Aynaoui's home: armed bandits lock the family in and flee with the jewelry

Night of terror for Roma midfielder Neil El Aynaoui and his family. A gang of armed robbers surprised them in their sleep and, after locking them in a room, ransacked the house.

The alarm was raised around 3:40 AM by the footballer who contacted Emergency Number 112 when the criminals had already left. The Police arrived on the scene and conducted investigations at the residence in the Castel Fusano area, in the southern quadrant of the city, searching for traces left by the robbers.

A gang of six men dressed in black, armed with a gun and faces covered, carried out the attack. They broke in after tearing off a grate protecting a window in the living room. Gun in hand, they threatened the family and locked the footballer, his mother, wife, brother, and sister-in-law in a room. They then stole jewelry worth about 10,000 euros, a Rolex, and designer bags before disappearing.

"I was scared but the important thing is that we are all okay" the midfielder told the microphones of Tg1.

Investigators are analyzing footage from wide-angle cameras that may have captured the perpetrators during their escape and could help identify the culprits. The hypothesis is that this is a gang of professionals who planned everything in detail.

And last night’s incident is just the latest in a series of robberies targeting the 'stars of football.

Among the most violent episodes was the robbery at Roberto Baggio's villa in Altavilla Vicentina, in the hills of the lower province of Vicenza, which occurred in June 2024.

The former national team player was watching the Spain-Italy match with his family when five robbers entered the house.

It was forty minutes of fear, with the criminals not hesitating to beat him when he tried to stop them, even hitting him with the butt of the gun.

The Vicentine Ballon d'Or winner and his family were locked in a room while the thieves searched for money and valuables.

Before him, in 2019, it was Claudio Marchisio: four men threatened him and his wife before fleeing from the villa in Vinovo with the loot.

In October 2022, in the Varese area, Theo Hernandez's partner was home alone with their six-month-old baby, while the Milan player was out.

Over the years, face to face with robbers in their homes were also Clarence Seedorf in Milano and Edin Dzeko in Rome in 2016 (in that case, his wife and daughters were also present), then the Roma defender Chris Smalling, who in April 2021 was surprised in his sleep while his two-year-old son was also sleeping in the house and was forced by armed men to open the safe that contained Rolex and jewelry.