Dubai: A jobless man has been accused of threatening to kill a producer inside her car with a screwdriver at a shopping mall and stealing her Dh15 to buy food to eat.
The 48-year-old Filipino man, R.K., was said to have opened the door of the car of the Lebanese producer when she was about to drive away from the parking lot of a shopping mall.
Then he pointed the screwdriver at her and threatened to kill her before he asked her to empty her pockets in January 2015.
The Lebanese woman was said to have cried in fear before she opened her purse and gave the suspect, who had covered his face with a white cloth, the Dh15 that she had.
Prosecutors charged R.K. with threatening the producer and stealing her money.
The Filipino entered a not guilty plea when he appeared before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday.
“I did not steal anything,” argued the suspect when he handed a written defence to presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat in court.
The Lebanese woman testified that she had just got into her vehicle when the incident happened at 9pm.
“The suspect opened the door suddenly and squeezed himself into the car. He pointed a hard tool at my stomach and said ‘I will kill you… give me money’. I cried and told him that I did not have any cash. He was so edgy and threatened me again and demanded money. I took out my purse and opened it in front of him and showed him that it was empty. There was only Dh15, which he took. I was not aware that the Dh15 was there … he took the money and fled,” claimed the producer.
A policeman testified to prosecutors that the woman informed them about the colour of the man’s clothes.
“We checked surveillance cameras and managed to track down the suspect who was shown on CCTV cameras riding a car rented in Sharjah. We obtained the suspect’s details from the car rental office. A police patrol arrested the defendant, who confessed during questioning that he mugged the woman at the mall. He alleged that he spent the Dh15 to buy food,” he claimed.
A ruling will be heard on April 9.
