Probe into fired shots during car chase with drug suspects

POLICE CHIEF Iacovos Papacostas yesterday launched an investigation into why shots were fired during pursuit of two men suspected of heroin possession and use.

The incident took place at around 1.30pm in Larnaca on Tuesday.

Following a tip-off that drugs were being moved Larnaca drug squad officers placed a 38-year-old Greek American under surveillance. The man, who was on foot, met up with a 32-year-old English Cypriot who was in a car and the pair drove off.

Two officers on motorbikes followed the duo and asked them to pull over for a search. A third officer, who was on foot, also motioned to the 32-year-old driver to stop his vehicle but was ignored.

Instead the 32-year-old turned his car abruptly and hit one of the motorbikes, resulting in both officers falling to the ground. One officer was injured, while the other got back on his bike and started to chase the car driver who sped off.

In his attempt to stop the car, the officer fired two shots and burst the vehicle’s back left tyre. The 32-year-old carried on driving, stopping a short while later outside a house in the Panayias tis Faneromenis area in Larnaca.

Two other officers who had been following the pair in a police vehicle asked them to get out of the car. The 38-year-old did and was arrested. The 32-year-old refused and opened the car door abruptly, striking the officer standing behind it. Using due force the officer removed the 32-year-old from the car and arrested him.

The injured officers were taken to Larnaca general hospital for treatment. The 32-year-old suspect was also taken to hospital with cuts and bruises to his face.

A search of the 38-year-old man’s home uncovered two syringes containing heroin.

A Larnaca district court yesterday charged the 32-year-old for assaulting police officers while the 38-year-old was charged in writing for possession of two heroin filled syringes.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.