Armed man holds up jewellery store in Espoo - police apprehend two suspects
The police are holding two men in connection with an aggravated robbery that was carried out in a jewellery shop in the Tapiola suburb of Espoo on Wednesday.
An armed man held several people hostage for over half an hour. In order to catch the thief, police cordoned off much of the large shopping centre in Tapiola, and vehicles were stopped on nearby roads.
According to the police the men in custody are about 30 years old. They have foreign backgrounds, but they have lived in Finland for a long time.
The police suspect one of the men of committing the actual robbery and the other one of assisting the main perpetrator. The police say that they caught the men following their own investigation. They also say that they have the weapon used in the robbery and most of the haul.
The incident at the Kultatapiola jewellery store in Tapiola's Sampotori began just before 11 a.m., when a man of average height, dressed in overalls and a hood and wearing welding glasses, entered the shop. Threatening them with what appeared to be a pistol, the man forced the four members of staff and one customer onto the floor.
The robber grabbed gold jewellery and watches and stuffed them into plastic bags. The situation lasted for over 30 minutes, after which he made his escape through the back door of the shop and into the underground car park located below the shopping centre.
In order to catch the thief, police, some wearing bullet-proof vests, cordoned off much of the large shopping centre of Tapiola.
Dogs were used, and even cars and buses in the neighbourhood were checked out. The Espoo police were assisted by other police forces including units from Vantaa, but the perpetrator was not caught at this time.
The jewellery shop did not have surveillance cameras of its own. In the afternoon, police started checking out the other cameras in the shopping centre. The value of the stolen goods had not been precisely determined by Wednesday evening. It was also not completely clear whether the weapon used was actually was a real pistol or not.
Police are continuing to investigate the robbery, and all information concerning possible perpetrators should be forwarded to the team on the following telephone numbers: (09) 525 4280 and (09) 525 4380.
Helsingin Sanomat
