Police appeal for witnesses after attempted taxi hijacking and assault

Police are appealing for witnesses following an attempted hijacking.

The incident happened in the Tullybrannigan Road area of Newcastle on the morning of Thursday 22 October.

Detective Sergeant James Johnston said, “It was reported to Police at around 7.00 am that a taxi driver had picked up two men and two women in the Iris Street area of west Belfast.”

The taxi driver took them to Newcastle, Co Down.

“When nearly at their destination, one of the men asked the driver to pull the vehicle over,” Detective Sergeant James Johnston continued.

“When the taxi was stopped, one of the males threatened him with a broken bottle and demanded he get out of the car.

“The two men began assaulting the driver.

“When he refused to leave the vehicle, they took a sum of cash and made off from the area.

“When all passengers were out of the vehicle, the taxi driver drove away from the area.

“Two males were arrested and taken into custody in relation to the incident, but have since been released on bail, pending further inquiries.

“If anyone has any information in relation to the event, or witnessed anything suspicious in the area at the time of the incident, please call the Police non-emergency number 101, quoting the reference number 175 of22/10/20,” he added.

Alternatively, information can be passed through to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is completely anonymous.

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Posted by NewryTimes News on Oct 23 2020. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry