Dubai: A daring car chase by a young Emirati foiled an attempt by robbers to steal and drive away with an ATM (automated teller machine) from a branch of the Abu Dhabi National Bank in Al Ain on Wednesday night.
Abdullah Awad Alsyari, a 22-year-old Emirati in Al Ain, said he saw the burglars load an ATM machine onto their SUV (sports utility vehicle). The sight made him suspicious as it was late at night.
A government employee, Alsayari challenged the robbers but they sped away. He chased them through a residential area but stopped when the robbers threw the ATM out of their vehicle, went off road and disappeared into the desert.
Alsyari told Gulf News that he was very glad to foil this robbery attempt although he knew it was dangerous.
“I am so glad that the robbers threw the ATM out,” Alsyari said. “I was out at the time of the incident to finish some personal work at around 4am and suddenly saw the robbers’ car. Initially, I thought they wanted to rob our neighbour’s house but when I approached them, I was shocked to see a group of masked men inside the SUV. They tied an iron cable around the ATM and pulled it to their car.”
Robbers spoke in Arabic
“It was too dark and I could not note down their vehicle registration number. But when I approached their car, they told me to go away in Arabic.”
“As they were trying to escape, I rammed my car into their vehicle but they sped away. I chased them for about five minutes through the city roads… then, they threw the ATM onto the road and entered a sandy area... I stopped because it was too dark and I could not enter that area… I informed the police about the incident and they came to the scene within minutes.”
A spokesperson from the bank confirmed the incident but refused to give more details. It remains unclear how much money the ATM contained at the time of the burglary.
Police are on the lookout for the robbers.
