Cyprus top cop stops Nicosia bank robbers
NICOSIA (AFP) – A Co-op bank heist in Nicosia was foiled yesterday after an armed duo were unfortunate enough to come across Cyprus’s assistant police chief who just happened to be in the area, police said. Sotiris Charalambous, one of the island’s most senior police officers, showed the rest of the force how it is done when he tackled the culprits head on as soon as they exited the premises with the equivalent of 36,000 euros in cash. Although the two raiders were brandishing a pistol and semiautomatic weapon, the 54-year-old assistant police chief stopped them in their tracks. The two suspects and a suspected accomplice were arrested. A police spokesman said the top cop was «passing the area by complete chance» after attending a conference on road safety. «He got out the car and chased them, showing no fear.» The weapons turned out to be fakes.
