Two suspects were arrested by Carabinieri in Piazza Indipendenza shortly before midnight on Friday after an American tourist was robbed at knifepoint, forced to hand over cash in the centre of Florence.
The victim, a US citizen visiting Florence, was approached without warning by two individuals as he walked through the city centre on the night of Friday 12 June. The pair produced knives and demanded all the money he was carrying. The tourist complied and the suspects then fled the scene.
However, rather than leaving the area, the tourist acted quickly, flagging down a Carabinieri patrol car that happened to be carrying out security checks in the vicinity. He reported the robbery and provided officers with a description of the two individuals.
Swift arrest
Acting on the description, Carabinieri officers identified the two suspects still in Piazza Indipendenza just minutes after they robbed at knifepoint the tourist. Both were detained shortly before midnight. The investigation remains ongoing as officers work to fully reconstruct the sequence of events and establish any additional criminal liability.
The speed of the arrest was made possible by the Carabinieri’s active street presence in the area. Florence’s city centre has been the subject of heightened security patrols in recent months following a series of robberies targeting tourists, several involving weapons. In March 2026, a 21-year-old American visitor was beaten with a metal bar and robbed of his wallet and phone in Via della Spada after refusing to hand them over. The following month, a Brazilian tourist was robbed near Santa Maria Novella station when a knife was pressed to her back.
Tourist safety in the Historic Centre
Florence receives millions of international visitors each year, and its historic centre — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — is among the most intensively policed tourist zones in Italy. The Carabinieri Radiomobile unit, which made Friday’s arrests, operates rapid-response patrols specifically designed to cover the central districts during evening and night-time hours.
Piazza Indipendenza, where the suspects were caught, lies just north of the historic centre proper, close to the San Lorenzo neighbourhood. It is a busy transit point frequently used by both tourists and residents in the evenings.
Visitors to Florence are advised by the Carabinieri to carry only the cash they need for a given outing, to remain aware of their surroundings in less-crowded streets after dark, and to contact the nearest patrol immediately in the event of any incident.
