Two men have been charged following a cash-in-transit robbery that resulted in a high-speed car crash.
The men, aged 40 and 44 have been charged with robbery and are due to appear before Belfast Magistrates’ Court this morning.
The 52-year-old woman has been charged with possession of a class a drug. She is due to appear before Belfast Magistrates’ Court on February 22nd.
Two other men, aged 40 and 41, also arrested remain in custody.
A man armed with a crow bar threatened a security guard close to the Tesco Express store at Great Victoria Street in Belfast city centre shortly before 9am yesterday.
The robber had been waiting in a nearby phone box, emerging as the guard left the store and ordering him to hand over a cash box.
He made off in a dark coloured car.
Officers across the city were alerted and two men were arrested after a car was involved in a collision on the Monagh bypass in west Belfast.
The car crossed the carriageway and ended up on its roof, although the driver and passenger are not thought to have been seriously injured.
Three further suspects - two men and a 52-year-old woman - were arrested a short time later at a house in the Monagh Road area of west Belfast.
The cash box was recovered and taken away for examination.
The security officer was not physically injured but was left badly shaken.
Detective Inspector Keith Wilson said police received a report at around 8.50am on Tuesday "that a cash-in-transit security officer had been assaulted by a male armed with a crow bar".
"Officers across Belfast were instantly alerted and the four men, aged 41, 44, and two 40-year-olds, and the 52 year old woman, were arrested a short time later in west Belfast.
"Two of the men and the woman were arrested at a property in the Monagh Road area and two were arrested following a collision on the Monagh Bypass.
"They have been arrested on suspicion of a number of offences including robbery and taken to Musgrave station for questioning. The cash box has been located and will be examined in due course."
Detective Inspector Wilson appealed for anyone who "witnessed the robbery or anyone who saw any suspicious persons or vehicles in the area of Great Victoria Street before or shortly after the robbery to contact detectives at Musgrave on the non-emergency number 101 quoting reference number 251 26/01/21".
