Dubai: A jobless man and a student have been accused of breaking into a pharmacy and stealing medicines worth DhD2,600 and Dh4,400 in cash.
The 18-year-old Emirati student, O.Y., and his countryman, K.S., were said to have broken the locks of the pharmacy at Oudh Al Mutainah and stole medicines and cash in January.
Prosecutors accused the duo of carrying out a break-in and theft.
O.Y. pleaded not guilty and denied the theft accusation before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Sunday.
K.S. was present in another courtroom where he was scheduled to hear a judgement for being involved in a similar case along with O.Y.
According to the charges sheet, the suspects and a third juvenile suspect used a screwdriver to force open the pharmacy’s door before they stole boxes of different medicines and cash.
“In which area did this supposed theft happen?” O.Y. asked presiding judge Fahd Al Shamsi.
“In Al Ghusais vicinity,” replied the judge.
“No, we did not steal [from] that pharmacy,” said O.Y. He elaborated to the judge that K.S. was brought from the Central Jail in the morning and was present in another courtroom to hear the ruling.
The pharmacy’s Indian supervisor told prosecutors that his assistant told him over the phone about the robbery. “I rushed to the pharmacy and discovered that the suspects had broken the glass door and the register; they stole medicine and cash. CCTV footages confirmed that three masked suspects committed the heist,” he said.
A police lieutenant told prosecutors that primary interrogations led to the arrest of O.Y., K.S. and the juvenile suspect.
“K.S. claimed during questioning that they went to the pharmacy at 3am and broke the door with a screwdriver, then they walked in and stole cash and medicines. He alleged that they split the cash and the pills,” testified the lieutenant.
Presiding judge Al Shamsi adjourned the case until July when K.S. will be produced in court.
