Suspects in attempted robbery at a building near Paulista Avenue are detained after a shootout.

The São Paulo Military Police arrested two men on Friday afternoon, the 8th, suspected of attempting to break into a building on Rua Mário Amaral, in the Paraíso neighborhood, near Avenida Paulista. One man was arrested and the other, a minor, was apprehended.

The thieves managed to enter the building using a car with cloned plates and a gate control, also cloned, according to preliminary information from the Military Police.

Condominium employees reportedly noticed the criminals' suspicious actions and locked the car in a lock-up – a common security system in buildings that consists of two barriers.

The police were called, and one of the teams used a patrol car to block the suspects' exit, parking the car in front of the building's gate.

The robbers crashed their car into the back of the patrol car and tried to escape on foot, running from the police, initiating a chase.

Surveillance images obtained by Estadão show two men exiting the vehicle, and the agents shooting at the assailants.

According to the Military Police, no one was injured in the incident, and at least two suspects were arrested. The incident remains under investigation at the 27th Police District (Campo Belo).

Gang that invaded condominiums in the south zone is arrested

The Civil Police of São Paulo arrested 12 men in the early hours of this Friday, 8, and apprehended 2 minors suspected of being part of a gang specialized in robberies and thefts from residences in the south zone of São Paulo.

The group was arrested in the Sacomã neighborhood and, according to investigations, had a “leader” who determined which victim would be robbed and who would commit the crime.

The gang used remote control cloning to break into condominiums and residences. The group is suspected of robberies in the Moema region, where two such crimes occurred this week.

On the evening of last Saturday, the 2nd, approximately 15 armed criminals invaded a residential complex, held residents hostage, and robbed several apartments. The robbers accessed the complex using a cloned remote control for one of the apartments.

They wore masks and gloves, and brandished their weapons. After breaking into the units, they searched for cell phones, jewelry, watches, and cash. During their escape, they stole one of the residents' vehicles.

Early in the evening on Tuesday, the 5th, two men entered the garage door of a building on Alameda dos Anapurus, also in Moema, using a cloned remote control and held the residents of an apartment hostage.

The 63-year-old homeowner and his 95-year-old bedridden father were tied up and gagged while the thieves carried out the robbery.

The suspects' names have not been released, making it impossible to contact their defense attorneys. The Public Security Secretariat (SSP) says all cases are under investigation. (CONTRIBUTED BY JOSÉ MARIA TOMAZELA)