Carabinieri from the Rome provincial command and local police, working under deputy prosecutor Ambrogio Cassiani, are continuing to investigate the attacks attributed to a black minicar in the streets between Monteverde Vecchio and Testaccio, according to Sky TG24. The inquiry gained a new element on Friday when a man came forward to report that his own black minicar had been stolen — the same color and type of vehicle used in the attacks.
Actor Davide Iacopini remains hospitalized in very serious condition with a guarded prognosis at San Camillo hospital after being pushed onto the cobblestones in the Monteverde district on the night of October 5 while riding a scooter, Sky TG24 reports.
Investigators now plan a series of checks in light of the stolen-vehicle report, Sky TG24 says. A meeting was held at the prosecutor's office on Friday, October 9, between investigators and magistrates, but according to investigative sources cited by Sky TG24 the circle around the two young people — possibly minors — who pushed the actor is not yet closed.
Why it matters
The case has grown from a single assault on a well-known actor into a pattern of at least six reported episodes concentrated in a limited area of Rome between October 4 and 5. According to Sky TG24, four complaints have already been filed at the Monteverde carabinieri station, in addition to the Iacopini episode, which was opened ex officio because of the severity of the incident. The total number of episodes of this kind between October 4 and 5 stands at six.
The stolen minicar report could matter because it gives investigators a specific vehicle to trace. According to Sky TG24, the owner's written statement will now be the basis for further verification.
What investigators know — and what they don't
Certainties remain few. Sky TG24 reports that the two young people were traveling in a black minicar, possibly electric — an hypothesis investigators based on the fact that witnesses did not hear the vehicle approaching. That remains only an hypothesis.
Another early theory — that the episode was a social media challenge — is also unsettled. Sky TG24 reports that some investigators have already ruled it out, and that analysis of social networks has so far produced no confirmation.
There is no composite description of the attackers, according to Sky TG24. The only physical detail about one of them — blond with long hair — came from the sister of a man who was passing through Rome and lives in France. She told the program "Chi l'ha Visto" that her brother was attacked the same night as Iacopini, in similar circumstances, while riding a bicycle near Testaccio, Sky TG24 reports. The man's return to Italy is awaited so the complaint can be formalized.
The most recent victim to file a complaint, on Friday, is a retired 67-year-old professor. According to Sky TG24, he was struck in the side with a plastic stick on viale dei Quattro Venti on the evening of October 4. "I was walking and someone hit me in the side with a stick," he told the carabinieri, as reported by Sky TG24.
Investigators are sweeping the area between Colli Portuensi, Testaccio, Monteverde and the Gianicolo — the zone where all the attacks took place — and are reviewing footage from cameras there, Sky TG24 reports.
Identification is complicated by the fact that the minicar's license plate was covered with a black elastic band, according to Sky TG24. The one certain detail about the vehicle, the outlet reports, is a noticeable dent on the front right side.
The investigation is being coordinated by deputy prosecutor Ambrogio Cassiani and conducted by carabinieri from the Rome provincial command together with local police, Sky TG24 reports.
What to watch: whether checks prompted by the stolen-minicar complaint narrow the search, and whether the man in France returns to Italy to formalize his complaint.
