Criminals take advantage of the masks to do their misdeeds

According to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI, in English), William Rosario López put on a surgical mask and entered a supply store in Connecticut looking like a typical buyer from the era of coronavirus, taking fruits and other products. But when the only other customer left, Rosario walked over to the counter, pulled out a gun, pointed it at the grocer, and demanded that he open the cash register.

That scene, the FBI says in a court document, was repeated by Rosario at four other gas station stores over an eight-day period until her arrest on April 9. It highlights a troubling new reality for law enforcement agencies: the masks that have distinguished criminals forever have now allowed them to camouflage themselves among ordinary citizens who wear them to avoid the deadly virus.

“Criminals are cunning and this is a perfect opportunity for them to dress up and mix with others”said Richard Bell, chief of police in the small community of Frackville, Pennsylvania. Bell says he knows of seven recent armed robberies in the region in which the thief was wearing a mask.

It is impossible to estimate how many criminals are taking advantage of the pandemic, but law enforcement officers have no doubt that the numbers are rising. Crime reports are emerging in the United States and in other parts of the world that are facilitated by the fact that so many people are wearing face masks.

In March, two men entered the Aqueduct racecourse in New York wearing the same type of face masks worn by many racing fans and, at gunpoint, robbed three employees of $ 250 billion moving from the betting machines to a safe. Robberies by burglar-wearing robbers have occurred in North Carolina, Washington and elsewhere in recent weeks.

The problem is not limited to theft. At the Cook County Jail in Chicago, the virus has caused nine deaths and infected hundreds of inmates and guards. Employees are required to wear face masks and inmates receive a new one daily, something an inmate took advantage of to escape on May 2.

Jahquez Scott, imprisoned on a firearms charge and for violating his bail in a drug case, has tattoos on his face. But when he put on his mask, he posed as Quintin Henderson, who has no tattoos and was to be released, authorities said.

Scott was able to consummate his escape, but was captured a week later.

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