‘They told me I’ll make a great policeman on day’

A 22-YEAR-old Nicosia man was yesterday honoured by the police for his role in stopping a fleeing bank robber.

Last Friday, Andreas Eleftheriou spotted a hooded armed robber as he made his way out of the Bank of Cyprus branch on Kyriacou Matsi Ayios Dhometios.

Elefthreriou, who is a courier for TNT, acted immediately, using a broomstick to subdue the robber, a Russian in his thirties, who used a fake pistol to steal £2,000.

“I was a little scared, but my only thoughts were to stop the robber. I wasn’t thinking of anything else. Obviously, I was a little scared as I saw his gun but didn’t know that it was fake.

“I used my car to intercept him before he could reach his getaway vehicle parked on a side road nearby. I am very happy at the outcome.”

According to police sources, there was a brief, albeit rough struggle, during which the courier managed to get the best of the robber.

Police said Eleftheriou used a broomstick to pin him to the ground until they arrived to handcuff the suspect.

Eleftheriou told the Cyprus Mail that he has always wanted to become a policeman and had sat the police exams on two separate occasions.

“Unfortunately, my English is not very good, so I have not managed to get in so far. But I’m not giving up and will sit the exam again at the next available opportunity.”

At yesterday’s ceremony at Paphos Gate to honour Eleftheriou’s bravery, he was given a special police diploma in recognition of his effort.

“They told me I will make a great policeman one day,” he said.

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.