Injured off-duty cop helps catch arsonist
Despite suffering a knife wound to the stomach, an off-duty policeman managed to help arrest a suspected arsonist in eastern Athens yesterday, before being taken to hospital with minor injuries, police sources said. Officer Haralambos Kravaritis saw 38-year-old Nikolaos Hadzakis throw two camping gas firebombs at a furniture maker’s store off Thessaloniki Square in Ilioupolis. Hadzakis stabbed the off-duty policeman, wounding him in the stomach, as he approached. However, with the help of local residents, Kravaritis was able to detain the suspect until backup police arrived and arrested him. The injured officer was taken to a military hospital, where doctors treated him for non-life-threatening injuries. The furniture shop, which caught fire, suffered minor damage. Hadzakis said he firebombed it because he had fallen out with its owner, according to police.
