Arsenal midfielder, Mesut Ozil was pursued in his vehicle by suspected carjackers, holding knives and riding on a moped, through the streets of North London on Thursday afternoon
Ozil, driving in his Mercedes G-Class SUV, eventually ditched his car and bolted into a nearby Turkish restaurant.
The Daily Mail reported that his Gunners teammate, Sead Kolasinac, on realising the situation, exited his car and attempted to fight the two carjackers “with his bare hands.”
The chefs and attendants at the restaurant then came onto the street, driving away the assailants.
The police were called and are said to have arrived in minutes after which they questioned all the witnesses, including a very visibly shaken Ozil who was with his wife in the car.
Yasmin Tahsiner, the co-owner of the restaurant told Sky Sports: “They asked him [Kolasinac] straight away ‘give me your watch’. Then when they tried to attack him, he tried to go inside the car. From the other door, the attacker tried to go inside of the car as well. When Ozil drove the car, they chased them with the motorbike for 15 minutes.”
She added that the German’s car was badly damaged by the assailants with stones and bricks.
Police statement
The entire incident was captured by security cameras, the footage from which the police are examining.
The Police have said that no arrests have been made so far although the matter is still being investigated.
The Metro Police later released a statement confirming the incident.
“Police were called to Platts Lane, NW3, shortly before 17.00hrs on Thursday, 25 July to reports of an attempted robbery. It was reported that suspects on motorbikes had attempted to rob a man who was driving a car.”
“The driver, along with his passenger, managed to get away unharmed and travelled to a restaurant in Golders Green, where they were spoken to by officers.”
An eyewitness, Azuka Alintah, told the Mail that the player was terrified and barely escaped his attackers who had their faces concealed.
“It was totally mad and strange. His car was standing there empty in the middle of the road with its door hanging open. It is very distinctive, with gold trim. Ozil looked absolutely terrified, as anybody would after being chased by men with knives. He looked like he was running for his life. And I suppose he was.”
“I saw him disappear into the restaurant with the motorcycle guys on his tail. They didn’t take off their helmets and were all in black, wearing long-sleeved tops in this hot weather. They stood out. It was really creepy. ‘God knows what would have happened if they’d caught him. It looked to me like he’d have been hacked to shreds and he clearly thought so too.”
Watch as Ozil’s teammate, Kolasinac try to fight off the assailants
