Arrest of a man who took hostages of Robinho's relatives

The Military Police arrested a man today who took several relatives of Brazilian football player Robinho hostage after entering his home with the intention of carrying out a robbery, according to official sources reported by local media.

According to the information provided by the police, the events took place early this morning in a house in the municipality of Sao Vicente, located on the coast of the state of Sao Paulo.

The alleged thief took advantage of the moment when two women, one of whom would be the maternal aunt of the Santos Brazilian player, and three men opened the door of the house with the intention of entering the property.

The neighbors, alerted by seeing a series of strange movements in the house, decided to inform the police who, after surrounding the house, began negotiating with the alleged thief, whose name has not been made public by the authorities.

The assailant requested the presence of his partner, who, according to eyewitnesses cited by various media outlets, was the one who convinced the detainee to surrender to the forces of order.

After a little over an hour of captivity, the alleged thief decided to first release one of the two women; and shortly after, he did the same with the other woman and two of the men still being held.

Finally, the assailant left with the last hostage and surrendered to the Military Police, who took him handcuffed to the police station in Sao Vicente.

In addition, the law enforcement authorities also detained his partner in order to subject her to questioning to determine her degree of involvement in the events that took place.

Robinho, who is currently in Chile playing in the Copa America with the Brazilian national team, already experienced the kidnapping of his mother in 2004, who was eventually released after a month of captivity, following the payment of a ransom.