Jaime Giménez Arbe

Jaime Giménez Arbe (also spelled Jiménez:[lower-alpha 1] born Madrid, 12 January 1956) is a Spanish anarchist and bank robber known as El Solitario ("The Loner").

Jaime Giménez Arbe
Born (1956-01-12) January 12, 1956
Las Rozas, Madrid, Spain
Other namesEl Solitario (The Loner)
Conviction(s)Homicide (two counts)
Criminal penalty47 years imprisonment
This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Giménez and the second or maternal family name is Arbo.

He admitted to more than thirty armed robberies of banks all over Spain, and was also convicted of the murder of two Civil Guards in Castejón (Navarra).[2] In addition, in La Vall d'Uixó (Castellón) , during an exchange of fire with El Solitario, one policeman died due to a stray bullet fired by another policeman.[3] He was sentenced to 47 years' imprisonment in July 2008.

He was previously imprisoned in the United Kingdom for drug trafficking, and eight minor trials in Spain had yet to take place. He speaks Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese.

Detention

He was arrested on 23 July 2007, in Figueira da Foz (Portugal) as part of "Operation Gloria". A large number of police officers, both Spanish (National Police officers and Civil Guards from the Central Operational Unit) and Portuguese (Judiciary Police) were there to arrest him while he was, presumably, about to rob the “Caixa Agrícola” Bank,[4] located in Saraiva de Carvalho Street, near the market and the famous Figueira Casino. He was charged with the murder of two Civil Guards, whom he shot after they asked him to identify himself.

When he was arrested, he was disguised with false beard, moustache and wig and, as always, he wore his bulletproof vest and carried three guns: two short ones and an automatic one. The unprecedented police presence looking for him ended a decade of crimes that made him one of the most wanted criminals in Spanish criminal history. In his usual dwelling, and also in a warehouse of his own, large numbers of guns and amounts of ammunition were found, as well as articles of disguise.[5]

He was taken to Coimbra, where he was to make a statement before a judge. At the court door, before the many curious people and the media, he shouted "Hola a todos, soy El Solitario. ¡Salud españoles!" ("Hi, everyone. I’m The Loner. Here’s to you, Spain!")[6]

Stay in prison

On 27 July 2007 he started a hunger strike as a protest against being moved to a high security level prison. He stopped the protest two days later.[7]

According to his lawyers, Portuguese Elisa Maia and Spanish José Mariano Trillo-Figueroa, he admitted being a robber, but denied having murdered the three people of whose deaths he is accused, claiming that the former Civil Guard General Enrique Rodríguez Galinda, and the former Extremadura Junta President Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra were involved in them.[8] While admitting the robberies, he stated that he “robbed banks in order to liberate the Spanish from the banks’ thefts”.[9]

Trial

During his trial in the Navarra Provincial High Court in July 2008, Jaime Giménez Arbe pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder of two Civil Guards, as well as declaring himself antisystem and anarchist and defining his robberies as “bank expropriation”. He also said he had started his criminal career with Corsican anti-capitalist groups, with which he committed his first robbery.[10] Those sworn statements are similar to the ones in the letter he wrote in a letter to “public opinion” during his stay in Zuera prison.[11]

He was found guilty of the murder in 2004 of the two police officers, and was sentenced to 47 years' imprisonment.[12]

Criminal record
Date Town Province Country Details
January 18, 1993AdamuzCórdobaSpainHe used a Citroen C15, and was possibly helped by his brother. This bank does not exist any more.[13]
May 2, 1994ViveiroLugoSpainRobbed a Banco Exterior de España office.
May 10, 1996ZafraBadajozSpainShooting with the Civil Guard. He used a Renault 4.
May 22, 1998MelideA CoruñaSpainRobbed a Caixa Galicia Bank office.
July 4, 1998TeruelTeruelSpainFled in a jeep after appropriating 1,778,000 pesetas from a CAI office.
September 4, 1998BinéfarHuescaSpainAppropriated 3,997,000 pesetas from an Ibercaja office.
November 26, 1998JumillaMurciaSpainRobbed a CAM office and appropriated ₧12,600,000 million.
March 5, 1999La RodaAlbaceteSpainAppropriated 3,000,000 pesetas from a Caja de Ahorros de Castilla La Mancha office.
April 23, 1999SocuéllamosCiudad RealSpainAttacked a CCM office and appropriated two million pesetas.
June 10, 1999CalahorraLa RiojaSpainAppropriated 1,197,000 pesetas from a Cajarioja office.
July 14, 1999A EstradaPontevedraSpainAppropriated 1,668,000 pesetas from a Caixa Pontevedra office.
July 15, 1999ChantadaLugoSpain
September 2, 1999AlfaroLa RiojaSpainAppropriated more than 3,000,000 pesetas from the Ibercaja office in Alfaro’s España Square..
October 14, 1999CalamochaTeruelSpainAppropriated 4,100,000 pesetas from an Ibercaja office. Fled in a Suzuki.
October 15, 1999CariñenaZaragozaSpain
December 23, 1999MulaMurciaSpainAs he was leaving, he said “Merry Christmas” to those present.
May 10, 2000La Vall d'UixóCastellónSpainRobbed a Caja Rural de San Isidro office, appropriating 3,300,000 pesetas. There was an exchange of fire with local police. One police officer died as a result of a shot by another.[14]
December 22, 2000GallurZaragozaSpain
June 14, 2001Pina de EbroZaragozaSpain
August 18, 2001CeeA CoruñaSpain
October 9, 2001ZueraZaragozaSpain
January 23, 2002CalasparraMurciaSpainAppropriated his largest amount in robberies up to then, more than €100,000. He carried out no more robberies for a year.
March 26, 2003PozoblancoCórdobaSpainRobbed a CajaSur office and appropriated €30,000. Fled in a Suzuki Vitara.
August 20, 2003VilalbaLugoSpain
September 19, 2003TorrijosToledoSpainRobbed a CCM office located in España Square.
June 9, 2004CastejónNavarraSpainKilled two Civil Guards with a sub-machine gun, after a failed robbery in La Rioja (Spain).
April 20, 2006SarriaLugoSpainShot a clerk in the leg and fled with €835,000.
May 10, 2006AlcobendasMadridSpainIn La Moraleja district. Fled in a Renault Kangoo.
May 12, 2006Tres CantosMadridSpain
October 10, 2006L'AlcúdiaValenciaSpainRobbed the Banco Popular office located in Antoni Almela Street, and appropriated €6,000.
November 11, 2006ÁvilaÁvilaSpainRobbed #8 Caja Ávila office, located between Virgen de las Angustias Street and Padre Victoriano Street.[15]
December 14, 2006San Agustín del GuadalixMadridSpainAppropriated €10,000. This office had been previously robbed more than ten times.
February 7, 2007MadridMadridSpainIn Canillas district, 200 meters away from the Judge Police Station.
May 18, 2007ToroZamoraSpainShot a clerk in the leg, and fled with €6,000.[16]
July 23, 2007Figueira da FozCoimbraPortugalArrested as he was going to rob a bank in Figueira da Foz, Portugal.

Notes
  1. The spelling Jiménez has been used in some press reports, though the correct spelling is Giménez, as he wrote it in a letter[1] signed by himself and shown to press photographers by his lawyer Mariano Trillo-Figueroa)

References
  1. ABC.es El Solitario thinks he is Curro Jiménez (Spanish)
  2. El Solitario’s one thousand faces| elmundo.es
  3. "He kept shooting. It was war." EL PAÍS (Spanish), 29 July 2007
  4. El Solitario’s hobbies: music… and explosives - 20minutos.es (Spanish)
  5. Preemptive prison for El Solitario (Spanish) • ELPAÍS.com
  6. “Hi, everyone. I’m El Solitario”, says the robber at the court’s door - 20minutos.es (Spanish)
  7. Preemptive prison for El Solitario after declaring before a Portuguese judge| elmundo.es (Spanish)
  8. El Solitario emulates Curro Jiménez • ELPAÍS.com (Spanish)
  9. El Solitario claims he robbed to liberate Spanish people from the bank’s thefts | El Periódico de Catalunya | Sociedad (Spanish)
  10. El Solitario claims he is an anarchist and never having killed anyone| El Periódico (Spanish)
  11. Jaime Giménez Arbe’s letter to public opinion, from Zuera’s prison (Spanish)
  12. "El Solitario, condenado a 47 años de cárcel por asesinar a dos guardias civiles" [El Solitario sentenced to 47 years in prison for murdering two Civil Guards]. EL PAÍS (in Spanish). 29 July 2008.
  13. El Solitario is visibly proud of his arrest and amuses himself posing - 20minutos.es (Spanish)
  14. Vall d'Uixo’s robbery reconstruction (Spanish) Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  15. http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/267227/0/atraco/solitario/avila/
  16. El solitario, a dangerous robber on YouTube (Spanish)
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