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Parsons Green attack – Shocking moment SECOND fostered Syrian refugee Yahya Farroukh, 21, is seized by cops over botched Tube bombing after being tackled outside a takeaway
TAKEAWAY customers watched in shock as terror suspect Yahyah Farroukh was wrestled to the ground outside a chicken shop.
The party-loving Syrian refugee was pinned down by four undercover cops at midnight on Saturday.
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Farroukh, 21, originally from Damascus, was being quizzed over the failed plot to blow up a Tube train at Parsons Green station in South West London.
He had lived with a foster couple at the same house as an unnamed 18-year-old arrested at Dover earlier on Saturday.
Farroukh was arrested outside Aladdins Fried Chicken in Hounslow, West London, where he is believed to have worked behind the counter for nine months.
He allegedly yelled: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" as undercover officers dressed as tramps pounced - causing a pile of KitKats and Maltesers to spill out of his bag.
A witness who saw Farroukh’s arrest said: “The guy had just walked past the takeaway when three blokes and a woman came running past and he was rugby tackled to the floor.
“My mates and I thought he was getting jumped.
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"We were going to help him but they shouted ‘undercover police’ so we stepped back.
“The guy was screaming. When they took him down his phone went flying and he dropped his bag containing a drink can and a KitKat.
“The cops were shouting to get his phone. I guess because it holds important information.
“They called for back-up and two more cops turned up.
“They were holding him down and trying to calm him.
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“A forensic team wrapped his arms in plastic up to his biceps and his legs up to his thighs.
“They put plastic on his shoes then put him in overalls and plastic cuffs.
“They put him in a car which also had all the seats wrapped in plastic.
“He looked like he didn’t speak much English but he was responding to what they were saying.
“It seems they had been waiting in a car on the side road. As soon as I saw them wrapping him up I knew it was really serious.”
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Farroukh was wrapped in plastic by cops to preserve evidence during the dramatic arrest on Saturday.
Onlooker Tareq Haque, 21, told : "He was screaming on the floor with this woman on top of him pinning him to the floor.
"His bag went to the floor and it had chocolate bars in it and his phone was on the floor too.
"Someone was with him when he was arrested. He was saying to everyone 'he's a good guy, there is nothing wrong with him, I know his family and he's a good guy'. He was saying 'this is all a mix up'.
"He was saying to them 'let me go, let me go' and they were telling us there was nothing to worry about. He started saying 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry'."
Suleman Sarwar, one of the owners of the takeaway, said Farroukh "never mentioned anything about ISIS", adding: "He seemed very Westernised, he was into American rap music and wore Western clothes like jeans and T-shirt.
"He was very sensible and mature, and not into religion at all. There was nothing to make him stand out."
Farroukh learned English at West Thames College in Hounslow after being placed in the care of the Jones family.
His Facebook profile says he has worked for promoters Dope Diamond Entertainment and BSQ London.
Their events have included parties called Girls Gone Wild and Bad Girls’ Night Out.
Farroukh used to be cared for by foster pair Ron and Penny Jones, whose house in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, was raided on Saturday.
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Farroukh moved out to nearby Staines. Forensic teams were searching that address.
Both suspects were fostered by Penny and Ron Hodge - who have previously received MBEs for services to children and families.
Neighbours of the couple spoke about the pair in the days following their arrests.
Pat Hodge, 59, said: “My wife and I have sat outside in the communal garden with him in the summer and had ice lollies.
“He seems like a nice chap. Sometimes his family come down from Edinburgh, I think it’s his brother and two nephews. They’re all really lovely to talk to.
“They’re obviously Arabic but the kids speak with perfect Scottish accents.
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“Sometimes he and his friends go out in the garden with their prayer mats and shisha pipes.
“His lights are on all night, every night, and often there are three or four of them in there together.
“Sometimes I wave if I’m walking past.
“They seem to play video games together.
“It’s frightening to think we’ve welcomed him to the neighbourhood and now he’s been arrested over this terror thing.”
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Another neighbour, Bob Farwell, 67, said: “He used to have loads of people over at 3 or 4am and have the curtains closed.
“He kept himself to himself but would say hello to me.
“I heard a load of noise at midnight and came out and there were loads of police outside.”
Cops in Sunbury put up a metal screen around the Jones’s house. Neighbours claim police had had said they found explosives.
A woman told how the 18-year-old suspect’s family preferred him to be living in a Muslim home.
The mum-of-two said: “Penny and Ron are lovely. To open your door to so many children shows you what they’re like.
“I saw the boys, they were quiet. I asked the younger one if he wanted to come to my church to help settle in and meet people but he didn’t want to come.
“His family are not happy he is with a Christian family.”
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The UK’s threat level was lowered from critical to severe following the two arrests.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said police had made good progress in the investigation.
She said: “Severe still means that an attack is highly likely so I would urge everybody to continue to be vigilant but not alarmed.”
Ms Rudd has said it appeared the bomber was not a lone wolf but it is “too early to reach any conclusions”.
The country’s top counter-terrorism officer, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said police were gaining a “greater understanding” of the preparation of the Parsons Green device.
He said armed police will maintain a strong presence this week.
— PASSENGERS were taken off a BA flight in Paris after the pilot warned a “direct security threat” had been made at 7.45am UK time. It eventually took off for Heathrow at 11am.
- Additional reporting Jake Ryan and Steve Hawkes
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