Advertising and marketing guru Gary Thompson escaped death by a whisker after he was knocked down by a vehicle allegedly belonging to three suspected robbers who caused a shootout as they attempted to escape at Sam Levy’s Village in Harare on Sunday.
Thompson, who had to be rushed to hospital after the incident, appeared at Harare Magistrates’ Court with arm in sling yesterday, as a witness in the robbery case.
The three suspects, Aiden Fellow (40), Martin Jara (32) and Collins Dzinoreva (33), were arrested on the spot after the shootout with the law enforcement agents and appeared before provincial magistrate Tendai Mahwe on Wednesday, facing charges of robbery.
Prosecutor Joyce Sithole presented that last Sunday, the trio arrived at Freshly Grounds Coffee Shop at Sam Levy’s Village in their getaway Nissan vehicle which had no registration plates.
It is alleged Fellow, Jara and Dzinoreva targeted to rob Graham Williams (59), who was having a cup of coffee at the same shop, and had an Apple iPad in his satchel bag.
Dzinoreva allegedly grabbed the bag and ran towards their parked vehicle.
The court heard that William quickly discovered that his bag had been stolen and informed Thompson, Steve Alberts and Jason Smith who gave chase.
Alberts, who is a police officer, drove his vehicle pursuing the suspected robbers as Thompson proceeded to alert incoming and outgoing motorists in the car park to block the robbers’ vehicle.
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The court also heard that after the vehicle had been blocked and in an attempt to escape, Jara allegedly reversed and bumped into Alberts’ vehicle which was behind and in the process knocked down Thompson.
Alberts deflated the getaway vehicles’ tyres by firing at them leading to the trio’s arrest. The suspected robbers were remanded in custody to August 3.
