Colombian, Peruvian robbers caught by Istanbul police before act

Çetin Aydın - ISTANBUL

A suspected robbery gang of three were nabbed by Istanbul police on Nov. 16, according to security sources.

Two Colombian nationals, one male and and one female, and a Peruvian citizen were detained by police after a driving shopkeeper called them in suspicion that he was being chased by strangers in a car.

He had withdrawn 117,000 Turkish Liras ($22,125) from a bank and one of the tires of his car was going down, he told the police.

When the police arrived at the street the shopkeeper had parked, they saw three suspects on the corner. The suspects got in a car, of which's plate was reported by the shopkeeper, when they saw the police but they were stopped after a brief chase.

After examining the CCTV footage the police found that the three suspects were waiting outside the bank when the shopkeeper was inside. They chased the shopkeeper’s car and one of them battered one of the tires with an iron bar at a pump station without being noticed.

The police believes that they were planning to rob the shopkeeper after his car would stop.

The three suspects were released by the court on condition of judicial control.