Taxi driver threatened with handgun in Belfast

A taxi driver has been threatened with a firearm in Belfast during the early hours of this morning.

The taxi driver picked up a man in the Albertbridge Road area shortly after 2am.

Police say as the car drove through the city, the driver was threatened with a handgun and ordered to handover money.

The driver was able to alert a police patrol on Ormeau Avenue and when police approached the vehicle, the man fled,

The PSNI said he was pursued on foot by an officer who also had the gun pointed at him during the chase.

After briefly losing sight of the suspect, officers arrested a 36-year-old man they located hiding in a garden in nearby Maryville Street a short time later.

He remains in police custody this morning.

The firearm has been seized by police and will be subject to examination.

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