New West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini and his wife are recovering after being held up by armed robbers who shot at police before escaping in his native Chile.

The couple were mugged on Saturday evening as they headed to a restaurant with some friends, as reported by the Daily Mirror.

The men are said to have stolen a handbag thought to belong to Pellegrini’s wife, Carola Pucci, before firing at police officers who tried to stop them and then speeding off in a stolen Porsche Cayenne that was later found abandoned.

The horrifying incident happened near a shopping mall called Casa Costanera in an upmarket suburb of the Chilean capital Santiago called Vitacura.

Thankfully no-one was hurt despite the violence shown by the armed robbers, who threw road spikes down to stop police chasing them after one fired his weapon.

A police helicopter was used in the hunt for the criminals, whose car was eventually found in a suburb of Santiago called Conchali.

Officers also recovered the handbag that was stolen, which reportedly belonged to Pellegrini’s wife although police would only confirm it belonged a woman.

Local police chief Gonzalo Munoz confirmed: “They fired two shots at officers and threw road spikes down to stop them following as they sped off which resulted in a police car being damaged.”

Pellegrini, who was appointed as the new boss of the Hammers in May, thanked Chilean police who are known as Carabineros – in a tweet.

He said: “Congratulations to @Carabdechile for their speedy and brave reaction.

“I’m also thankful for the help of locals. I hope they give the Carabineros more resources to solve the problem of delinquency as soon as possible.”