Dubai: A vacationer has been accused of assaulting a policeman who was trying to arrest him for being reportedly involved in stealing a mobile phone from a store. The 29-year-old Algerian holiday-maker and his two countrymen were said to have walked into a store in Naif in February.
Thinking they were buyers, the store manager showed them some phones, according to records. After they left, he discovered that a phone was missing.
The Pakistani store manager followed the three men and asked them to stop to check who had stolen the phone, said records.
The three Algerians denied the man’s claims and shouted at the him instead.
Then the storekeeper called the police.
A police patrol was dispatched to the store, and when a policeman was trying to apprehend a 29-year-old, who was suspected to have stolen the phone, he was assaulted by the man.
Prosecutors accused the Algerian vacationer of assaulting a policeman who was carrying out his duty and stealing the phone, worth Dh500.
The 29-year-old admitted before the Dubai Court of First Instance that he had stolen the phone.
However, he denied the charge of assaulting the policeman and contended: “I did not know that he is a policeman. He just came towards me and wanted to catch me … he wore a local dress and was not in a police uniform. I did not know that he is a policeman and just pushed him away from me.”
The policeman testified to prosecutors that the 29-year-old was shown on the surveillance cameras stealing the phone.
“When I tried to restrain him, he pushed me repeatedly and tried to stop me from apprehending him. During questioning, he tried to deny at first but later he admitted that he was the one who stole the phone,” the policeman claimed.
A ruling will be heard soon.
