Tesco cash raid ends in Worthing school drama (From The Argus)
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Tesco cash raid ends in Worthing school drama
9:44am Monday 22nd March 2010 in
UPDATE: The hunt for raiders who held up a security van at gunpoint at a Chichester Tesco ended inside a school at Findon Valley, Worthing.
Two men were arrested at Vale First and Middle School in Vale Avenue this morning after an armed raid and a chase along the A27 in which a police car was rammed.
Staff at the school said all the children were safe after the police operation.
Police said they kept the pupils indoors while they checked the school but there was no evidence of any other suspects being involved.
Chief Inspector James Asser, commander of Sussex Police's Worthing and Adur district, said: "We are reassuring staff, pupils and parents that the area has quickly been made safe and no children were endangered during the search.
"We have just finished checking the school and grounds in case there was a third suspect and children were kept secure at the school whilst that was done."
The raid took place at the Tesco superstore in Fishbourne Road East at about 8.10am.
Two G4S security guards said they were threatened by two men carrying handguns, who stole a cashbox containing more than £10,000.
No shots were fired and no-one was injured.
The suspects left in a Mercedes 4x4, which was found burned out nearby shortly afterwards.
Police followed a silver Saab on the A27, which rammed a police car near Arundel before driving off.
The car was found abandoned off Mill Lane in High Salvington.
Police said they found handguns and cash in the car.
The suspects ran into the school grounds and into the school building itself.
Police went into the building and arrested two men on suspicion of robbery.
A police spokesman said there was no violence during the arrests.
Cash was also recovered in the school.
Two men aged 30 and 31 were arrested on suspicion of robbery and are being questioned in custody this afternoon.
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: "We would like to hear from anybody who was in Tesco and saw two men lurking or loitering by the cashpoints, or running off afterwards into a Mercedes parked nearby."
Anyone with information is asked to call Sussex Police on 0845 6070999 quoting serial 174 of March 22 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
Comments(36)
corruptive
says...
11:01am Mon 22 Mar 10
shrek's uglier brother
says...
11:21am Mon 22 Mar 10
hen write-to-the-Argus-w
ebsite-and-criticise
-it Brigade start firing off ill-informed comment. Still, that's democracy for you...
corruptive
says...
11:25am Mon 22 Mar 10
sing character of Kurt the Chef in the Fawlty Towers episode "Gourmet Night"??
Spanners
says...
12:07pm Mon 22 Mar 10
emma barnes wrote:Sorry, don't really see why this is a negative story on the police? Or is this just a pre-emptive remark before bibble gets here? It appears the police recovered money, got the bad guys whilst ensuring that no children were harmed in the process. They only negative thing is that I quite like to see people take money off the evil empire that is Tesco.
Please add any negative police comments below:.....
emma barnes
says...
12:25pm Mon 22 Mar 10
Spanners wrote:just waiting for the knee jerk reaction from armchair police critics.....sorry if I was too vague!
emma barnes wrote:Sorry, don't really see why this is a negative story on the police? Or is this just a pre-emptive remark before bibble gets here? It appears the police recovered money, got the bad guys whilst ensuring that no children were harmed in the process. They only negative thing is that I quite like to see people take money off the evil empire that is Tesco.
Please add any negative police comments below:.....
scthetruth
says...
12:49pm Mon 22 Mar 10
Head teachers and their deputies are never satisfied with their school grant. Always on the ponce with school letters for money.
Tammy Flugh
says...
1:12pm Mon 22 Mar 10
A perfect disguise. They would have blended in with all the mothers on the school run.
icansee
says...
1:13pm Mon 22 Mar 10
there have also been five armed robberys in southwick recently
anyway who is counting?
the odd success will keep the morons on here content
keep your chin up!
littlet
says...
1:41pm Mon 22 Mar 10
I am a parent at this school, and believe me the last thing you need whilst dropping your children off on a monday morning is to see police swarming from every direction with the helicopter overhead, knowing that your children are in the school and there is nothing you can do for them, you just have to wait for the updates and then the good news that suspects in custody and all staff and pupils are safe and well.
I would like to thank the police and school for there swift and sensitive way in which this has been handled.
icansee
says...
2:37pm Mon 22 Mar 10
emma barnes wrote:to be fair, there has to be some negative comments to keep things real and balanced
Please add any negative police comments below:.....
if we are going to congratulate the cops when they have a success then we have to criticize them when they fail
its simple to work out success or failure
just keep count!
emma barnes
says...
2:45pm Mon 22 Mar 10
icansee wrote:good point.
emma barnes wrote:to be fair, there has to be some negative comments to keep things real and balanced
Please add any negative police comments below:.....
if we are going to congratulate the cops when they have a success then we have to criticize them when they fail
its simple to work out success or failure
just keep count!
Christophe Hawtree
says...
3:20pm Mon 22 Mar 10
PeteBrighton
says...
4:20pm Mon 22 Mar 10
kkj
says...
5:00pm Mon 22 Mar 10
emma barnes wrote:It wasn't too vague, simply too subtle for a lot of people!
Spanners wrote:just waiting for the knee jerk reaction from armchair police critics.....sorry if I was too vague!emma barnes wrote: Please add any negative police comments below:.....Sorry, don't really see why this is a negative story on the police? Or is this just a pre-emptive remark before bibble gets here? It appears the police recovered money, got the bad guys whilst ensuring that no children were harmed in the process. They only negative thing is that I quite like to see people take money off the evil empire that is Tesco.
littlet
says...
6:15pm Mon 22 Mar 10
emma barnes
says...
8:32pm Mon 22 Mar 10
littlet wrote:yep.. They left 4 years ago.
would you all be so flippant if this had happened at your childs school!!!
wicksy75
says...
10:24pm Mon 22 Mar 10
Balanced opinions yes but criticism is not needed in this instance. It's very antagonistic to have raised it in the first place???!!!
ambassador
says...
2:44am Tue 23 Mar 10
Police were probably able to react so quickly because they were in the police station eating cakes and planning their next corrupt act.
I am sure they used the opportunity of the trip out to arrest a few innocent people on the way back to the police station and victimise them and detain them illegally just to get their DNA.
I am certain that those who have made positive comments about the police handling of this incident are totally unaware of the police state that we live in; where we have no freedoms and have to resort to anarchy and contravention of all laws in order to demonstrate our opposition.
How did I do? Did I miss any points?
ambassador
says...
2:47am Tue 23 Mar 10
stan bailey
says...
7:27am Tue 23 Mar 10
littlet wrote:isn't this fairly near where Sarah Paine was abducted, shouldn't school security be better than this
so nice to see lots of positive comments on here!
I am a parent at this school, and believe me the last thing you need whilst dropping your children off on a monday morning is to see police swarming from every direction with the helicopter overhead, knowing that your children are in the school and there is nothing you can do for them, you just have to wait for the updates and then the good news that suspects in custody and all staff and pupils are safe and well.
I would like to thank the police and school for there swift and sensitive way in which this has been handled.
Made In Sussex
says...
7:40am Tue 23 Mar 10
A school by its nature needs to be an accessible place and not locked down like some fortress, idiot, ill thought out comments like that are not needed.
John Steed
says...
8:24am Tue 23 Mar 10
PeteBrighton
says...
9:12am Tue 23 Mar 10
icansee
says...
10:31am Tue 23 Mar 10
there were quite a few armed robberies recently where no-one was arrested and charged
there is the one in worthing when a gun was fired
and there were five others in southwick to name a few
come on sussex police lets go to work, there is another eight hour shift to complete
wicksy75
says...
10:41am Tue 23 Mar 10
icansee
says...
12:35pm Tue 23 Mar 10
she helped create a highly efficient crime fighting machine
the message is clear, you cannot get away with it in worthing!
ambassador
says...
1:36pm Tue 23 Mar 10
stan bailey wrote:How has the location's proximity to the tragic events surrounding Sarah Payne any relevance?
littlet wrote:isn't this fairly near where Sarah Paine was abducted, shouldn't school security be better than this
so nice to see lots of positive comments on here!
I am a parent at this school, and believe me the last thing you need whilst dropping your children off on a monday morning is to see police swarming from every direction with the helicopter overhead, knowing that your children are in the school and there is nothing you can do for them, you just have to wait for the updates and then the good news that suspects in custody and all staff and pupils are safe and well.
I would like to thank the police and school for there swift and sensitive way in which this has been handled.
This is a school, not a high security establishment. You could never prevent escaping criminals or mad-men forcing entry to evade capture.
ambassador
says...
1:37pm Tue 23 Mar 10
Made In Sussex wrote:Exactly.
Apparently some parents were a bit critical about the level of security at the school gates saying it should be tighter. What do they suggest? finger print pad and retina scans on entry!!,
A school by its nature needs to be an accessible place and not locked down like some fortress, idiot, ill thought out comments like that are not needed.
ambassador
says...
1:42pm Tue 23 Mar 10
John Steed wrote:Exactly.
villians, guns, high speed car chases on main arterial roads, rammed cars, school full of children, all the makings of a disaster, how ever you serve up the result of this event its is a good one, nobody injured, 2 villians nicked, 2 guns and all the cash recovered, the police and all those members of the public who assisted should have a hearty slap on the back. WELL DONE
And perhaps that is why even bibble has been unable to concoct any vacuous anti-police remarks.
And, whilst police attention was drawn to dealing with this incident I am sure it gave bibble the opportunity to commit many undetected criminal and traffic offences in a bid to crush the police state.
ambassador
says...
1:46pm Tue 23 Mar 10
PeteBrighton wrote:****!
Ambsassador ~ you did brilliantly. I don't think you left anything out, apart from maybe mention of right-wing conspiracies. You get my nominatiopn for Bibble-stand-in any day.
I completely forgot the 'right-wing conspiracies'.
My thinking was fogged with the mists of fact and reality and I completely overlooked the paranoid aspects of the issue.
Sorry!
ambassador
says...
1:49pm Tue 23 Mar 10
The '****!' in the above post was an exclamation censored by the Argus software.
It should have read 'bother!'.
(security words: 'blow-whom' - we all know who don't we?)
icansee
says...
5:02pm Tue 23 Mar 10
icansee wrote:can someone please remove this comment
congratulations to ex chief inspector Sharon Rowe of Worthing police she helped create a highly efficient crime fighting machine the message is clear, you cannot get away with it in worthing!
i have just been told that she got nicked shoplifting at marks and spencers at holmbush shoreham
congratulations to the eagle eyed store detective!
icansee
says...
5:06pm Tue 23 Mar 10
their bark is worse than their bite!
icansee
says...
5:12pm Tue 23 Mar 10
without this infomation there would be no arrests
congratulations to the eagle eyed member of public
Old Ladys Gin
says...
3:40pm Thu 25 Mar 10
That's the point, no harm done, but acres of tales for years to come, such is the stuff of life.
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emma barnes says...
10:52am Mon 22 Mar 10