Four armed robbers block car, escape with $2 million in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

Four armed robbers escaped with a total of $2 million in the Bakırköy district of Istanbul on Aug. 14 after holding up a car with three people on board.

The incident happened in the Florya neighborhood’s Çatal Street, where three unidentified people got in a car with a bag holding $2 million at around 8.30 a.m. Four armed robbers then blocked the car after it left the garage and stole the bag containing the money inside.  

Mehmet Gül, a security guard at one the properties near the scene, tried to chase the robbers but was slightly injured in his leg after they shot him. He was then taken a hospital by locals at the scene.

The armed robbers managed to flee the scene, after which police at the site examined the bullet-hit car and launched an investigation to apprehend the suspects.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident also on Aug. 14, armed robbers broke into a jewelry store in Istanbul’s Sanayi neighborhood in the Kağıthane district at around 3.45 a.m. 

Security footage showed the robbers covering their faces and bringing a laundry basket along with them to carry the jewelry. However, they faced resistance from locals woken up by the noise and attempted fled the scene. 

After they leave the store and are confronted by locals on the street the robbers are seen in security footage panicking. They then open fire randomly before getting into their vehicle to flee the scene. 

Although the robbery was not completed, the suspects are said to have collected about 100,000 Turkish Liras. 

The jewelry store’s manager showed reporters the damage inflicted on his enterprise, while voicing his pride that locals in the area took a stand against the burglary.

A local taxi driver, who the robbers had fired upon, told reporters about the incident. 

“I was drinking tea in front of the pastry shop at about 3.30 a.m. At that point, a car came with its trunk open. An explosion was heard at the jewelry store’s window,” he said. 

“Someone with a gun in his hand told me to ‘get in.’ I said, ‘kill [me] instead.’ He then fired upon me but I hid behind a bollard. I then shouted, ‘There is a robbery, they are robbing the jewelry store,’ upon which he fired five more times. They then escaped,” the taxi driver added.