Taser gun robbers jailed for 3 years

DUBAI // Five men who robbed a money exchange using tear gas and a Taser gun were each sentenced to three years in jail. The men drove a BMW car with stolen number plates to Al Razouki Exchange in Karama last year.

They stormed in wearing masks, sprayed tear gas, tasered several customers and threatened people with toy guns. The men got away with more than Dh700,000 and transferred some of the money to their home country. The men, from Kyrgyzstan, were convicted of armed robbery, assaulting employees and clients, setting fire to the getaway car, resisting arrest and assaulting police. Four of the men denied the charges, claiming a fifth person, who is still at large, planned the robbery and forced them to take part after threatening them and their families. One exchange worker, a 41-year-old Indian accountant, told Dubai Criminal Court: “I was busy with a money transfer for a client when the masked men came in and sprayed all of us with tear gas.”

“One sprayed my eyes with something burning then stunned me – I couldn’t open my eyes but I heard screams,” said one customer in the exchange.

“Four arrests were made shortly after and two suspects confessed willingly and said they bought the used car for Dh12,000,” said an Emirati police captain. Some of them assaulted CID officers when found.

They will all be deported after serving their terms.