Two men have been charged over the attempted carjacking of Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac in London in July.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed in statement on Tuesday that the two men, Ashley Smith (30) and Jordan Northover (26), were charged with attempted robbery and threatening a person with an offensive weapon in a public place. Smith was also charged with possession of class B drugs (cannabis).
In July, the two Arsenal players were pulling up to the home of Kolasinac when the two assailants approached the car brandishing knives.
In a video that captured the event, Kolasinac can be seen fending off the masked aggressors, with a source telling ESPN that Ozil stayed in the car to protect his wife.
Ozil then sped off and was followed by the attackers for about five minutes before arriving at Likya, a Turkish restaurant he likes to frequent in the nearby area of Golders Green, said the source. Employees of the restaurant emerged to help Ozil and confront the attackers.
The pair missed Arsenal’s 1-0 season-opening win over Newcastle at St. James’ Park due to what Arsenal called “further security incidents” related to the attempted carjacking.