Three visitors shackled for robbing villa of pilot

Hamza M Sengendo, Staff Reporter

Three visitors were hauled into court on Tuesday over the theft of valuables from the villa of a French pilot.

The Asian defendant, 39, his colleague, 29, and a countryman, 39, broke into the villa in Silicon Oasis on the night of Oct.6 and decamped with a safe worth Dhs300, according to records at Rashidiyah Police Station.

The safe contained a hard disk, personal documents, passports, pilot licences, a EUR6,000 men’s watch and a EUR2,000 women’s watch. It also contained three gold rings studded with gemstones worth EUR10,000.

They broke into the villa using crowbars and screwdrivers, took the safe to a sandy area, smashed it open and removed the valuables. They denied the charge and sought to be acquitted. The ruling was deferred to Sept.24.

The pilot, 45, complained that he went to put something in the safe and found it missing. He and his wife contacted the police. During investigations, a source tipped the police that the trio was behind the robbery.

An Emirati lieutenant said the defendant and his colleague confessed and testified against the countryman. They said they went to scene in a car driven by the colleague who had obtained it from a rental office.

They carried burglary tools, masks and gloves. They chose to target the villa as its lights were off. The defendant and the countryman stepped out of the car. The colleague remained inside keeping a watch. The defendant and the countryman rang the bell several times until they confirmed there was no one inside. They wore masks and gloves and scaled the fence. They entered the villa through an unlocked window.

They carried the safe to their car and drove to a nearby sandy area. They smashed it using sharp tools and removed the valuables. They chucked the safe and documents there. They sent the rings to their homeland.

Police caught them with a bag containing two crowbars, a torch, two caps and a pair of gloves. Police searched their flat in Dubai International City and seized two more crowbars and two screwdrivers.