Italian socialite, 65, fatally runs over homeless man who stole her bag, gets 18 years' house arrest

After a man stole her bag, an Italian socialite ran him over several times with her car to reclaim her bag, killing him as a result.

The incident, which happened in September 2024 in a town in Tuscany, Italy, was captured on surveillance footage.

Cinzia Dal Pino, a 65-year-old beach resort entrepreneur, was convicted in court for voluntary manslaughter, People reported.

On Jun. 11, she was given an 18-year sentence that the court ruled she could serve under house arrest for the time being.

What happened

According to People, the victim was a homeless Moroccan national named Noureddine Mezgui.

The surveillance footage showed that after Dal Pino first struck the 52-year-old man with her car, he fell to the ground and appeared to be in pain, Daily Mail reported.

Then, Dal Pino reversed and ran over him again three more times until he stopped moving.

She got out of the car, retrieved her stolen bag, and drove off.

Rather than call for help, she reportedly returned to the restaurant where she had been dining at earlier, to bring back an umbrella she had borrowed.

It was passers-by who called an ambulance, and the paramedics who arrived later declared Mezgui dead at the scene.

Dal Pino was arrested the next day, while praying in a nearby church, People cited Italian news reporting.

"Didn't mean to kill him"

Dal Pino told the police that Mezgui had mugged her as she came out of a restaurant.

She claimed that she had chased after him only to get her bag back.

"He had threatened to kill me with a knife. I was scared," she told the police, as quoted by Daily Mail. "I didn't mean to kill him, I just wanted my belongings back."

Her bag held her house keys, her phone, and some documents, including a note with passwords to her bank accounts and other important accounts, she said.

No knife had been found on Mezgui, officials said later.

In December 2025, Dal Pino told the court she did not think she had killed him by running him over.

"I drove toward him, toward the sidewalk. I didn't want to kill him, just knock him down so I could stop him — I didn't even realise I'd hit him. Then, after the first manoeuvre, it seemed to me he was getting up again; I didn't think I'd killed him."

Her lawyer argued that she "just wanted to stop him and was aiming for his legs", and has been feeling remorse for what happened.

The prosecutors, however, argued that Dal Pino sought "excessive" revenge.

Serving her sentence

Although Dal Pino was allowed to serve her sentence under house arrest for now, there will still be a final hearing for her case.

If her conviction is upheld at that hearing, she may be sent to prison for the remainder of her sentence.

While awaiting trial after her arrest, she was placed under house arrest with an electronic bracelet, which drew criticism from Mezgui's family in Morocco.

"Not even an animal is killed in this way," Mezgui's sisters told Moroccan media.

They called for justice for their brother, and said that Dal Pino must remain in prison.