One arrested for attempted gas station robbery with ax

The police arrested a 45-year-old man from Vlissingen on Sunday for trying to rob a gas station with an ax and later trying to mug a woman, the police said in a statement on Monday.

The ax carrying man walked into the gas station on President Rooseveltlaan in Vlissingen on Sunday evening, but fled again immediately. A short time later the police also received a report that a man tried to steal a woman's handbag in nearby Middelburg. The man and the woman struggled. A passerby shot to the woman's aid and the man fled without the handbag.

Descriptions given to the police by witnesses at both incidents led them to the 45-year-old man. He was arrested on Langeviele in Middelburg and is in custody for further investigation.

The police are also investigating whether the man was involved in another incident in Middelburg on Sunday night. A 47-year-old woman was taking a bag of rubbish outside on Langevieleweg when a man grabbed the bag from her hands.