Police link robbers to nine armed heists
Police on Thursday named and issued CCTV images of the four people they believe were behind nine armed bank robberies over the last four years, including one in 2014 at a branch of National Bank in Paralia Distomou, northwest of Athens, in which they netted 400,000 euros.
Authorities said that DNA evidence, fingerprints and witness statements link the four men to the robberies, which occurred in various parts of the country. The four suspects were identified as Spyros Christodoulou, Grigoris Tsironis, Spyros Dravilas and Giorgos Petrakakos.
Christodoulou and Tsironis were arrested during a raid at a house near Volos, central Greece, on May 29 but Dravilas is thought to have killed himself to prevent being caught. Petrakakos is still at large.
Police say that the four men carried out two robberies in 2011, one in 2013, four in 2014 and two this year. The head of the Revolutionary Struggle urban guerrilla group, Nikos Maziotis, is believed to have taken part in the 2013 raid. Maziotis is currently in custody after being arrested in central Athens last year.
Christodoulou, Tsironis and Dravilas had been using fake ID cards, whose details were made public on Thursday as police search for information on whether they were used to rent safe houses. Photographs of masks, bulletproof vests and stolen cars were also published.
