I (Almost) Got Away With It

A man is seen Thursday in an otherwise empty Monastiraki Square, usually one of the capital's most popular meeting points for both tourists and locals. A lockdown imposed by the government early last week to curb the spread of the coronavirus has been broadly observed by most people, the authorities have said, though the police continue to record hundreds of transgressions every day.

The numbers of robberies, thefts and burglaries have dropped by 25 percent nationwide, according to a senior Hellenic Police (ELAS) official.

The sharp decline has been attributed to stringent security measures such as the restrictions on the movement of people and the fact that many are staying at home due to the pandemic, putting prospective burglars on hold.

Greek authorities arrested a Syrian man after finding 12 Egyptian teenagers hidden in his van following a car chase through the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki early Thursday, police said.

Robbers broke into a doctor's practice in the western city of Preveza late Wednesday and removed a safe with more than 200,000 euros, police sources said Thursday.

The attackers entered from the main entrance and fled, the sources said, adding that authorities are checking CCTV footage for clues over the identify of the suspects.

The owner of a cram school in the town of Ioannina, northwestern Greece, was arrested on Thursday afternoon for holding a class despite government orders to suspend the operation of all schools and universities for 14 days as part of efforts to contain spread of coronavirus.

Three Roma men were arrested on Tuesday by police after a car chase on Kifissias Avenue from the northern suburb of Maroussi to Kifissia.

Police are searching for a man accused of robbing the National Bank branch on Amfitryonos Street in Palaio Faliro south of Athens on Monday morning.
Nobody was injured during the robbery, but the man, who was wearing a mask, did point a gun at the clerk.
The man made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Police in Agrinio on Monday announced the arrest of four suspected members of a burglary racket believed to have been targeting homes in the western city.

More than 100,000 euros' worth of equipment has been stolen from the National Technical University of Athens, it emerged on Friday.

According to reports, the incident occurred on Wednesday in the chemical engineering wing on the university campus in Zografou.

Two armed men held up a post office branch at gunpoint in the Athens suburb of Kaisariani on Friday and made off with an undisclosed amount of money.

According to police, the two gunmen threatened staff and customers at the post office at around 9.30 a.m. before taking the money and making their getaway on a motorcycle, which was later found in the suburb of Zografou.