Top cop nabs fleeing robbers

THREE armed robbers hoping to make a quick withdrawal from a Strovolos bank, managed to seize over £22,000 in a stand-up yesterday, but failed to count on Deputy Police Chief Soteris Charalambous driving by.

Two hooded men, both aged 20, walked into a Strovolos Co-op branch at 11am yesterday, waving a pistol and revolver. The two grabbed £22,100 from the counters before running out the bank on Aristophanous Road and into the sight of Charalambous, who happened to be driving by with two officers.

As the two robbers made their way to the getaway car, the police car with Charalambous in it launched into action, setting off its siren. All three officers were unarmed but still managed to stop the failed armed robbers about 100 metres from the scene of the crime. On closer inspection, police confirmed the guns being wielded were dummies.

The Deputy Chief and his team then honed in on the 19-year-old getaway driver who was waiting on a parallel street. The three put up no resistance and were arrested immediately. All three assailants were from the Nicosia area.
Police confiscated the bag with the money in it for evidence.

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.