'Flat tyre' con men held for robberies in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi - The police tracked down the vehicle that was being used by the suspects and arrested them.

Published: Tue 29 Aug 2017, 12:00 AM

Updated: Tue 29 Aug 2017, 10:27 AM

By
Ismail Sebugwaawo

The Abu Dhabi Police have arrested three men suspected of robbing women coming out of banks after making cash withdrawals. They robbed the women after tricking them into stepping out of their cars by claiming that they had a flat tyre.

The police said on Monday that the Asian men aged between 23 and 38 years were arrested after two Arab women complained to them that their handbags had been stolen from their cars by unidentified men.

Brigadier Ahmed Saif bin Zaytoun Al Muhairi, director of the capital police directorate, said as the women stepped out of their vehicles to check on their tyres, the suspects stole their handbags and fled.

Al Muhairi said that investigations revealed that the criminals used similar methods in both robberies. The police tracked down the vehicle that was being used by the suspects and arrested them.

The police coordinated with their counterparts in Ajman to arrest the suspects.

Earlier this month, the police had arrested four men after they robbed bank customers in two separate incidents. In one of the incidents, a 64-year-old Asian man complained that an unknown person stole an envelope containing Dh20,000 from his pocket near one of the banks.

In the other incident, a 48-year-old Arab woman was robbed after the men tricked her into believing that her vehicle had a flat tyre.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com