Moroccan pickpocket hit and killed by celebrity 'was a known criminal that Italian police wanted to deport', it turns out – as driver reveals why she felt the need to ram him… and the strange thing she did afterward

As it turns out, the pickpocket who was run over and killed by an Italian celebrity was a known criminal whom the police had previously tried to deport.

65-year-old businesswoman Cinzia Dal Pino took brutal revenge after the man identified as 52-year-old Moroccan Nourdine Naziki stole her handbag from the open window of her car.

Shocking video footage leaked to local media shows the moment Dal Pino chased Naziki and ran him over four times with her Mercedes SUV.

In a bizarre twist, Dal Pino did not call the police or ambulance, but then calmly returned to the restaurant where she had eaten with friends before the attack to return a borrowed umbrella, local media reports.

Naziki's family in Morocco have now expressed their horror at the incident, demanding that justice be done and sharply criticising the Italian authorities for placing Dal Pino under house arrest rather than in prison.

Dal Pino, a well-known socialite in the Italian coastal town of Viareggio, was identified by the license plate of her Mercedes SUV

Naziki's family in Morocco have expressed their horror at the incident and demanded “justice”.

“In this way, not even one animal is killed,” his sisters told Moroccan broadcaster Chouf TV, adding: “We demand justice for our brother, Cinzia Dal Pino must remain in prison.”

Dal Pino has been charged with first-degree murder. She wears an electronic ankle bracelet and remains under house arrest.

Her lawyer, Enrico Marzaduri, said that the events had been very distressing for his client and that she had not intended to kill Naziki, but simply wanted to prevent him from disappearing with her bag and belongings.

“She did not mean to kill,” he said, adding that what happened “went beyond her wishes. She feared the man might have used her house keys and documents in her bag.”

He added that she was afraid that the robber might use her keys and personal information to commit further crimes against her.

The police had been monitoring Naziki since his death and wanted to repatriate him, but the authorities did not respond to their demands, so he remained at large in Viareggio.

Dal Pino, a well-known public figure in the Italian coastal town, was identified by the license plate of her SUV and arrested by police just hours later.

The video of the ramming attack shows Naziki walking past a store when Dal Pino's vehicle suddenly appears and rams into him at high speed.

The car then drives back and forth four times before we see Dal Pino – in high heels – calmly get out of her car, take her bag and drive away.

Paramedics were called to the scene and Naziki was taken to hospital, but he later succumbed to his injuries.

65-year-old businesswoman Cinzia Dal Pino (pictured) took the law into her own hands

Dal Pino admitted to police that she chased him and just wanted her bag back

Nourdine Naziki, 52, grabbed Dal Pino's handbag from the open window of her car

Dal Pino admitted to police that she chased him and just wanted her bag back.

She told police: “He threatened to kill me with a knife. I was scared. I didn't want to kill him, I just wanted my things back.”

“I had important documents in my bag and I couldn't call the police because my phone was in it.”

Officials later said no knife was found on Naziki and that Dal Pino was initially held in prison for manslaughter before being released under house arrest.

Her lawyer Enrico Marzaduri rejected the video, saying: “As far as I understood the autopsy, the first impact was certainly the fatal accident and there are no tire marks on the body.”

She told police: “He threatened to kill me with a knife. I was scared. I didn't want to kill him, I just wanted my things back.”

In a shocking video footage leaked to local media, Naziki is seen walking past a shop when suddenly Dal Pino's vehicle appears and rams into him at high speed.

“She just wanted to stop him and aimed at his legs. She suffers from what she did and feels remorse for what happened.”

But local archbishop Monsignor Paolo Giulietti said: “Apart from self-defense, the video shows astonishing behavior.”

“How can you drive your car over a person's body several times? How can we believe that a quiet and respectable lady, a capable businesswoman, could perform such an action?

“Evil triumphs when it makes us evil: whoever rejoices because this incident would be an incident of self-defense shows how evil triumphs.”

“I say let's not celebrate, this is not self-defense and it is not justice. Nothing, absolutely nothing can justify murder.”

“Not only because we live in a constitutional state. But because every person, in every situation they find themselves in, has the right to live.”

Dal Pino admitted to police that she chased him and just wanted her bag back

Naziki’s family demanded “justice” in an interview with Moroccan television

Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini saw things differently and wrote on Facebook: “This drama is the consequence of a crime. If the man who lost his life had not been a criminal, this would not have happened.”

Naziki's family said of the 52-year-old, who had lived in Italy for 24 years: “He was a good man and we want justice. Anyone who knew him will tell you that. She ran him over four times and then, when he was dying, she just drove away calmly and didn't even ask for help.”

Meanwhile, a banner has appeared on a construction site in Viareggio that reads: “Whoever has money has power, the law is not the same for everyone.”