Residents beat up knife wielding bank robber

A knife-wielding thief in Gweru staged a solo bank robbery when he walked into the local branch of Agribank on Tuesday afternoon and snatched $2 000 from a teller.

The suspect, Nelson Mavengahama (39), immediately fled from the banking hall with his loot with the bank's security personnel in hot pursuit.

However, lady luck ran out for Mavengahama as he was quickly apprehended by members of the public just outside the bank leading to the recovery of the cash and the knife.

Police spokesperson for Midlands Province Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko confirmed the incident which occurred on Tuesday at about 12noon.

He said Mavengahama of Mkoba Village Five was now in police custody assisting with investigations.

"I can confirm the arrest of a 39-year-old man, Nelson Mavengahama after he entered into Agribank in Gweru's Central Business District  and reportedly snatched $2 080 from a bank teller.

He was then apprehended by the bank security personnel with the help of members of the public as he tried to flee the scene," said Insp Mahoko.

He said Mavengahama entered into the bank masquerading as a client who wanted to make a cash withdrawal.

The Midlands police spokesperson said the suspect went on to snatch cash from one of the bank's tellers.

"When he entered the banking hall, Mavengahama, who is employed by ZimAlloys, completed a withdrawal slip before joining the queue. He then proceeded to one of the tellers where he suddenly snatched a bunch of notes which the teller was counting and bolted out of the banking hall," he said.

Insp Mahoko said an alert security guard and other clients who were in the banking hall quickly chased after Mavengahama and caught up with him just outside the bank.

"In an effort to resist citizen's arrest, Mavengahama then drew out a kitchen knife but was overpowered by members of the public who took away the knife. The bank security guard with the help of some members of the public also managed to recover the $2 080 cash which he snatched from the bank teller," he said.

Insp Mahoko said Mavengahama was later arrested by police who attended to the scene.

Meanwhile, a ZimAlloys worker who witnessed the incident told Chronicle that Mavengahama was one of the many ZimAlloys workers who visited Agribank on Tuesday after the company management indicated that they had deposited their salaries in their accounts.

The witness said most of the company workers could not access their salaries after their banks indicated that the salaries were still to reflect into the employees' accounts.

"Most ZimAlloys employees bank with Agribank. We visited the bank to check if our salaries had been deposited. We have not been getting our pay for some months and the company management indicated that part of our salaries had been deposited into our accounts," said the witness.

The witness said he was shocked when he saw Mavengahama taking to his heels soon after snatching the money from the teller.

"I was also frustrated when I checked with the bank and found that there was nothing in my account. It appears Mavengahama took his frustration too far when he went on to snatch cash from the teller. I could not help him when members of the public attacked him following the theft incident since I also feared for my life," he said.