Man accused of stealing almost Dh20,000 from businessman in Dubai street

Unemployed Ethiopian was arrested after getting involved in another theft case, police say.

DUBAI // Two men assaulted a businessman and stole the Dh18,800 with which he going to pay off his credit card, a court heard on Tuesday.

Prosecutors said that on August 17 the Indian victim, 45, was walking to an exchange house in Naif to repay Dh14,000 when he was attacked by a jobless Ethiopian and another man.

“I was walking when two men approached me and one of them assaulted me and I fell down to the floor,” the businessman said. “One of them snatched the envelope from my pocket, then they fled and I started screaming, ‘thieves, thieves’.

“I reported the incident to Naif police station, who called me 20 days later and informed me that they arrested one of the men who robbed me.”

A policeman said the Ethiopian was arrested over another theft case.

“During questioning he told me that he and the other man, who is at large, target people near banks and exchange houses,” the officer said.

In Dubai Criminal Court, the defendant, 43, denied a theft charge.

The next hearing has been scheduled for November 29.