NEWS

Police arrest 52-year-old over Kypseli square mugging call

Police arrest 52-year-old over Kypseli square mugging call

A 52-year-old man is accused of instigating clashes between police and partygoers in the downtown Athens district of Kypseli in the early hours of Saturday by calling the 100 emergency number and claiming he had been mugged at knifepoint.

The suspect was arrested on Sunday night after police traced the call to his phone and was arraigned on Monday. He is being accused of luring police to Agiou Georgiou Square, where dozens of young men and women had gathered on Friday night in a deliberate violation of social distancing rules mandated by the government to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus.

He allegedly appealed to the dispatch officer for someone to come “save” him after he had been stabbed by a mugger in Kypseli and then pointed responding officers in the direction of Agiou Georgiou Square, claiming the crime had taken place there.

The Hellenic Police (ELAS) claims the suspect was never mugged and that the call was a trap to lure officers who came under attack as soon as they approached the square, prompting the intervention of the riot police.

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