Two men arrested as armed police recover bottle of ‘noxious fluid’ from car in Canonbury
The scene in Elmore Street, Canonbury, on Wednesday evening after two men were arrested by armed police on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon. Picture: submitted to Islington Gazette - Credit: Archant
Two men have been arrested after armed police recovered a bottle of “suspected noxious fluid” from a car in Canonbury.
The car was stopped, and the men arrested, in Elmore Street at about 6.20pm on Wednesday evening.
A Met spokesman said officers “became suspicious of a car in the Islington area”. The cops tried to stop the vehicle, but it made off.
The car was eventually stopped by armed officers in Elmore Street. A bottle of suspected noxious fluid was recovered, as well as a balaclava.
The men, both aged 26, were arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon. They remain in custody.
But one eyewitness told the Gazette: “I rather suspect there’s more to it than the given story of officers becoming suspicious of a car. The suspect’s car was hemmed in at the exit of Elmore Street emerging onto Essex Road by a large number of police vehicles, most of them unmarked.
“There were specialist firearms officers and many undercover police. It looked like a planned operation, that the police had the suspects under surveillance.”
