Dubai A man was jailed for two years for posing as policemen before a worker, forcing him into his car and stealing his money and deliberately hitting a police car that chased him.

The Bangladeshi worker was walking to a grocery store to purchase some goods when three persons in a car stopped him at night in Al Quoz area.

The driver of the car told the worker that he was a policeman and asked him to come closer to the window. The worker went closer to the driver’s window and the latter suddenly punched him twice and stepped out of his seat, forced the worker into the back seat, and the other man seated in the back pulled him in.

The driver drove off to a sandy unpopulated area where the three men in the car assaulted the Bangladeshi, took away his Dh1,200, pushed him out of the car and absconded.

The mugged worker called the police instantly and informed them what had happened.

A police patrol headed to the location as four victims had reported similar incidents in four days.

Policemen were taking down the worker’s statement when coincidentally the same car drove by the area.

When the car driver did not respond to the policeman’s order to stop, the policeman and his partner jumped into the patrol vehicle and chased the car.

The driver drove recklessly and deliberately hit the police patrol vehicle to prevent it from blocking his way.

Despite knowing that he was endangering the lives of the policemen, the fleeing driver crashed his car into the patrol vehicle that ploughed on to a pavement before the policemen swiftly jumped out and rushed to apprehend the men.

One of the men, a 35-year-old Emirati, turned physically violent and assaulted the policeman, who was apprehending him. A 44-year-old Iranian man was also apprehended for aiding and abetting.

In August, the Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the two defendants to two years in jail each.

The 35-year-old defendant, who was sentenced in absentia, surrendered himself and requested a retrial.

On Monday, presiding judge Urfan Omar confirmed the two years jail sentence against the Emirati and fined him Dh5,000 for possessing alcohol and fined him Dh7,000 for wrecking a police car.

The defendant had pleaded not guilty and denied posing as a policeman, kidnapping the worker, assaulting him and stealing his money. He also denied assaulting a police officer and jeopardising his life when he intentionally swerved and bumped his car into the police car to cut its way off and evade being stopped.

The incident happened in January 2014.

The assaulted policeman said four mugging incidents that had happened in which the modus operandi was the same were reported in a week.

“We were questioning the mugged worker when the defendants’ car coincidentally drove by. We chased the car after they refused to pull over … they risked our lives when they deliberately hit our patrol. When one of them tried to run away and I chased him, he assaulted me,” he testified.

Monday’s ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.