Policeman points out shooter
A police officer testifying before an Athens court yesterday positively identified Yiannis Dimitrakis as the man who shot at him during a bank robbery in January 2006. On the second day of Dimitrakis’s trial for his alleged involvement in the robbery, the police officer, Dimitris Papadimitriou, described to the court his role in the incident. «We exchanged shots. I saw the suspect had fallen down and his gun was next to him. I detained him,» he said. Dimitrakis, aged 29, is alleged to have been a member of the notorious «Robbers in Black» gang that struck a number of banks in Athens. He was shot and injured during the January 2006 bank raid. A second police officer also told the court he was certain the suspect had shot at him. «I shot out the car tires. I also shot at the driver to stop him. We exchanged shots with a passenger in the car. It was Dimitrakis. I injured him. It was just sheer luck that I wasn’t injured,» the unidentified officer said. Dimitrakis admits to having taken part in the robbery but denies shooting at anyone. Charges against him include taking part in seven bank robberies, four murder attempts and money laundering. Meanwhile, the 24-year-old police officer who was attacked on Friday by a group of 30 youths outside a rock concert at Hellenikon, southern Athens, remained in critical condition yesterday. Some 100 policeman have been taking part in an operation to apprehend his attackers, but still remained in the dark despite questioning about 30 people yesterday.
