Watch shopkeepers foil armed robbery involving eight men on mopeds
A 24-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of armed robbery after shopkeepers fought off a smash-and-grab gang in England.
Eight men on mopeds arrived at a jewellery shop in Kingsbury, north-west London, armed with an axe and a sledgehammer and began smashing windows and snatching jewellery from the shop’s display area on Monday, police said.
Sami Said, 48, manager of The Jeweller on Kingsbury Road, and his son Mohammed Said, 20, tried to fend them off with baseball bats but were out-numbered until local shopkeepers and passers-by got together to help confront the robbers.
The group managed to catch two of the raiders as the gang sped off on mopeds, but one of them struggled out of their grasp and escaped.
Police were called to the scene at about 2.12pm and took the captured man to a north London police station for questioning.
Video of the incident was captured by passer-by Mojtaba Al-Hoseine and shows the shopkeepers throwing wooden pallets, and in one case what appears to be a knife, at the robbers as they tried to drive off.
Detective inspector Scott Hartley, from the Met’s Flying Squad, said: “This was a brazen robbery carried out in the middle of the day.
“I would like to praise the bravery of those in the local community who intervened in dangerous circumstances.”
Speaking to the Evening Standard, Sami Said said he planned to throw a feast for those that helped him.
He added: “I’m very happy everyone helped. I say thanks to all those people. They did a very good thing for me.”
Police are urging anyone who witnessed the incident to call them on 0208 785 8655 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
