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Robbery arrest hero tells of raid ordeal
A HEROIC waiter helped a policeman to make an arrest after a terrifying raid on a travel agency.
A raider fled from Thomas Cook in Muswell Hill Broadway with a bag stuffed with what was thought to be up to £30,000 in cash at about 5.20pm on Monday.
Moments later an unarmed police officer grabbed a suspect he spotted running from the scene and pinned him to a wall.
As the two men struggled, a waiter who works at the nearby Crocodile Antiques café and wanted to be known only as Ivan, snatched a gun that had been dropped on the ground. The 32-year-old, who lives off the Broadway, said: "The cop was struggling and the gun was within the robber's reach - you didn't know which one of the two could have grabbed it.
"In London you always listen to people saying they don't want to get involved if someone is struggling but this time I did. I just relied on my instincts.The next minute was the longest in my life waiting for the armed cops to arrive."
The tussle happened minutes after a raid at the store where two female staff in their 20s has been threatened. Another employee at the travel centre ran out "screaming hysterically" alerting Ivan and his boss Christ Ostwald to the attack.
While Mr Ostwald's wife called the police, a passing patrol car stopped and two unarmed officers rushed to the rescue.
Mr Ostwald said: "The whole thing was shocking and seems really surreal now.
"The policeman had the guy on the ground and there was a large carrier bag with orange smoke coming out of it.
"Ivan was shaking, which is understandable if you think how scary it would have been. It was quick thinking and extremely dangerous."
Minutes later the flying squad arrived and the suspect was arrested at the scene.
A spokeswoman for Thomas Cook said: "We can confirm that a robbery took place and that no employees involved in the incident were hurt.
"Robberies are thankfully very rare. We take all security breaches very seriously and have a number of measures in place to deter criminals.
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Muswell Hill
Journal News |
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