JEDDAH, 26 April 2006 — Two men made off with a car parked in a crowded street in Jeddah while its driver had gone inside a shop on Monday, police said yesterday.
The thieves jacked the car from Prince Miteb (Arbaeen) Street at around 10 p.m. and proceeded to a drug store in Makarona Street where they terrified customers by firing in the air and took all the money found in the store, Maj. Gen. Ali ibn Habab Al-Nufayei, director of police in Makkah Region, said in a statement.
Their next destination was Quwaiza district where they shot at and injured a worker before robbing all the money in a drug store.
By the time police were alerted and several armed officers were sent after the thieves, they had escaped in the direction of Faisaliah district. Close to the Bicycle Square in King Fahd Street, police spotted the car in which the suspects were fleeing. When the security officials shot at the speeding car and presumably wounded one of the occupants they jumped out and disappeared in a nearby residential neighborhood.
Police found most of the stolen money in the car. Security forces are on full alert and have mounted a search operation, the police chief said.
