AN OFF-DUTY police officer with his mother in the car helped chase down and arrest an armed robber yesterday after the thief had escaped with two bags of cash from a branch of Ethniki Bank in Limassol, according to police.

Limassol police chief, Andreas Kousioumis said that the hooded 49-year-old walked into the bank at around 11.20am waving a gun around. He then asked the tellers to remove the bags from the bin and fill them with money. 

The robber escaped in a car in which he number plates were covered, but in his haste left one of the bags behind. As he was getting away, the off duty police officer, who had his mother in the car at the time, realised what was going on and went after him.

The chase came to an end around a kilometre from the bank after the off-duty officer had rammed the suspect’s car with the help of the motorcycle squad.

The 49-year-old, who has been involved with the police before, they said, put up a struggle during his arrest, slightly injuring the off-duty officer along with another two policemen.

Cyprus Mail