Italian police arrest four over Milan New Year's assaults

Italian police officers on Sunday arrested four additional suspects connected to a string of sexual assaults last New Year's Eve around Milan's Cathedral Square.

The arrests took place after months of investigation, with several other suspects previously arrested for other assaults against women.

The case attracted comparisons with mass sexual assaults and thefts in the German city of Cologne on New Year's Eve as the city welcomed in 2016.

What we know so far

Police said the men are Egyptian citizens aged 19 and 20. They are reported to live in Milan and the surrounding area, as well as the resort town of Lecco.

Authorities say there were two incidents. In the first, just before midnight, two young German tourists were sexually assaulted by the Piazza del Duomo's centerpiece statue of Vittorio Emanuele II.

In the second attack, at about half past midnight, two Italian women were assaulted outside a fast food restaurant — the culprits also stealing a mobile phone and a purse from one of them. Police are also pressing charges of aggravated robbery.

The arrests took place after months of analysis of footage from mobile phones and cameras and testimonies of the victims and witnesses in the square, according to Italian newspaper Corriere Dela Serra. Investigators also looked at the social media accounts of those said to have been involved.

Several other arrests took place after the incidents in Milan, after videos circulated in the media showing the acts and several women filed complaints.

Officers searched flats in Milan and Turin and five men, including two minors, had been arrested by May.

rc/dj (dpa, ANSA)