Paphos People

Sunday, March 9, 2008

POLICE traded gunfire with poachers during a dramatic high-speed chase that zigzagged in and out of the buffer zone near Zodia in the early hours yesterday.

The chase only ended when the poachers’ car crashed and one of the men was shot by police when he turned his gun on chasing officers. In total, two poachers and two policemen were injured.

It all began near Koutrafas village in the Nicosia district at 3.45 am, when a patrol car from the anti-poaching unit of the Rapid Reaction Unit MMAD spotted a vehicle behaving suspiciously and flagged it down for a check.

Instead of stopping, the car roared off at high speed, with the police in hot pursuit. As the poachers headed towards the Zodia checkpoint, the passenger in the car leant out of the window and started firing at the police car with his shotgun.

The chasing officers returned fire as a second MMAD car joined the chase.

Reaching the checkpoint, the fleeing car veered off into the buffer zone, then re-entered the main Astromeritis-Peristerona road.

At some point, the poachers collided with the second police car but managed to keep on the road at breakneck speed, before eventually losing control of the car, which rolled over and eventually came to a halt.

The driver, injured, remained in his seat, but the passenger grabbed the loaded shotgun and ran away through the fields, chased on foot by police. Running after him, one of the officers fell, badly injuring his leg, before the suspect turned around and pointed his firearm at police. At this point, a police officer opened fire. Hit on the hand, the poacher dropped his weapon and was arrested.

“The driver of the poachers’ car lost control, hitting the side of the road and overturning,” Nicosia Police Chief Kypros Michaelides told reporters later. “The passenger got out of the car holding a shotgun and was chased by the police patrol.

“At one point, he turned his gun on the policemen who were chasing him, resulting in a police officer opening fire to disarm him.”
Michaelides added: “Initial investigations have shown that indeed the police officer injured him on the hand, which resulted in him dropping the gun and trying to escape.”

Meanwhile, the passenger’s brother showed up at the scene and attacked police, injuring one of the officers to the arm.

During the pursuit, police said the men threw rabbits they had killed out of their windows, while at the scene where the vehicle crashed police found another four dead rabbits.
The two poachers were taken to Nicosia General Hospital for treatment, as were the two injured police officers.

Police Chief Iacovos Papacostas arrived at the scene and told the media that the suspects had occupied police in the past in connection with similar and other cases.
“It seems that the criminal element has entered the poaching dance. Nothing stops them and they are capable of everything,” said Papacostas. “But I would like to stress that anyone who dares turn a gun against a police officer will face a similar and worse reaction.”

Nicosia Police Headquarters have ordered an administrative investigation into the incident to determine the exact version of events and whether the police were within their rights to use their arms.
The suspects’ are expected to be remanded in custody once they have been discharged from hospital. They face charges of attempted murder.



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