Man on remand for car jacking

A FORTY-YEAR-old man from Larnaca was yesterday arrested and remanded in custody for eight days in connection with car-jacking a man and making off with vehicle and a briefcase with around €70,000 on Tuesday night in Frenaros

The 47 year-old owner of a betting-shop was driving slowly through Frenaros on his way from Larnaca to Paralimni when out of nowhere, a high-powered motorcycle suddenly emerged from a side-street and collided with his vehicle.

While the driver sat dazed and confused, the motorcycle rider got up, opened the driver’s car door, threw him out of the car, got in and drove off at high speed. Inside the car was a briefcase containing between €60,000 and €70,000 plus some cheques.

The motorcycle used in the collision belongs to a British soldier and lay abandoned in an Ayia Napa building since 2004. Last Sunday night it was reported stolen. The police are positive that the perpetrator must have known that money was being moved every Tuesday. Police later found the car abandoned in a remote area with the engine running.

The investigating police officer said that according to a written testimony which is in the hands of the police, the suspect’s car was seen in Frenaros just before the incident.

According to Famagusta Police Chief Antonis Papaconstantinou, said the suspect had previous run-ins with the police in the past both in the districts of Famagusta and Larnaca.

The suspect was convicted of armed robbery in 2000, with the amount of £40,000 from a company in Ayia Napa, and was sentenced to four years imprisonment in 2004 for stealing jewellery worth £30,000 from houses in Frenaros.

Police are continuing the investigation find any accomplices and the stolen money.

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