Police greeted with juice... and then knifed

On the first visit, police officers were welcomed and offered juice by a suspect's mother while they were searching the house for stolen jewellery valued at Dh4 million.

When they went to check again, they were stabbed and seriously injured by her, said a top Dubai Police official.

Brigadier Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Director General of the General Department for Criminal Investigations (CID), said that the mother, an Arab, knifed two police officers and strongly resisted them.

The thief, AA, a 25-year-old GCC national had a history of breaking into villas in Dubai since he was 12-years-old.

"He has a long criminal history and has been jailed many times. Whenever he is released from prison, he returns to his old profession as a thief."

"In July, we received three complaints from people whose houses were robbed. We suspected that the thief was AA as the style of theft was similar to his. One of our agents saw AA in Al Wasl area roaming around a villa for some time. We kept an eye on him. On August 5, our agents saw AA breaking into that villa. They waited for him till he came out carrying a safe filled with jewellery and arrested him."

Lt Col Ahmed Al Marri from the CID said that as a procedure followed in all robberies, they took AA to his house to search for the other stolen items.

"His mother opened the door, and she welcomed us. She offered juice and assisted the officers in their search. We did not find any stolen items at all."

He added that they kept monitoring the house form August 5 till September 25 when they saw the mother returning at a very late hour and carrying a big black bag.

"We got a search warrant from the Public Prosecution and went to the house with two female policewomen. This time, the mother would not open the doors. When the officers managed to enter the villa, she urged her other sons to resist the search and stop the officers from entering the house."

He added: "She took a knife - which she was hiding under her clothes - and stabbed the team leader and another officer. One of her sons also took a knife and attacked an officer. The other officers managed to control them and arrested them."

While searching the villa, the officers found a big black bag hidden under the mother's bed. "While questioning her, she said that this was the jewellery stolen by her son AA who is jail."

He said that the two officers were taken to hospital for treatment. "Commander-In-Chief of Dubai Police, Lt General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim and Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Acting Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, visited the injured officers at the emergency department of the hospital as well as later on when they were moved into their rooms to ensure that they were safe and out of danger."

Lt Col Al Marri added that they called the victims and they recognised their jewellery and took them.

"This case and the type of resistance we received did not shake us. It has strengthened our determination to combat crimes. The oath which we took before joining the police force pushes us to sacrifice our lives in the effort to maintain the safety and security of this country."

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