DUBAI // A salesman from New Zealand sprayed gasoline over the counter and employees at a Rida Al Ansari Exchange and threatened to set it ablaze if he was not handed cash, the Criminal Court has heard.
M S, 52, was not present in court on Sunday to answer the charges of attempted robbery and endangering lives.
Prosecutors said that on May 1, he walked into the exchange wearing a mask, gloves, cap, and coat and holding a bottle that contained gasoline.
He sprayed the counter and the faces of some of the employees then threatened to set them alight with a lighter.
“I was coming out of the fax room when I saw him trying to spray more fuel in front of a second employee but he did not succeed because of the glass barrier,” said supervisor J P, 33, a Filipino.
Records said that police arrived and arrested M S.
During interrogation, he confessed to prosecutors that he filled the plastic bottle with gasoline from a petrol station, then cycled to the money exchange.
The items he used in the robbery attempt and his clothing were seized by police, the court heard.
The next hearing will be on November 9.
salamir@thenational.ae
