20 students held for bus robbery
20 students held for bus robbery
JAKARTA (JP): Police arrested 20 high school students on
Saturday for robbery, following a tip from a street musician who
witnessed the crime.
Police also seized machetes, sickles, knives, swords and
screwdrivers from the suspects, who are accused of robbing the
passengers of a Mayasari bus traveling on Jl. Suprapto in Cempaka
Putih, Central Jakarta.
Kemayoran Police chief Adj. Comr. Herry Rudolf Nahak
identified the suspects as students of a state high school and a
state vocational high school on Jl. Boedi Oetomo in Central
Jakarta.
The arrests were made possible by a tip from a street musician
who saw the students threatening the passengers with sharp
weapons, Herry said.
The officer said the suspects, some of whom were not wearing
school uniforms, told police they boarded the bus at separate
locations because bus drivers were often reluctant to stop for
large groups of students.
Some of the suspects, Herry said, got on the Mayasari bus
plying the Tanah Abang-Pulogadung route at the Galur bus stop,
while others boarded at the Marjani stop, both within 200 meters
of each other on Jl. Suprapto.
One of the bus passengers, Ikhsan, a resident of Cakung, East
Jakarta, said the students began the robbery as the bus was
passing Yarsi University on Jl. Suprapto.
He said two students threatened the bus driver with a sickle
and a knife, while other students, also armed with sharp weapons,
began collecting the passengers' belongings.
"Fortunately, a street musician saw the incident when the bus
stopped at the intersection to wait for the traffic light to turn
green," he said.
The musician rushed to the nearby Cempaka Mas shopping center
and reported the incident to a police officer.
Herry said some 20 Mobile Brigade police officers on duty at
the shopping center then gave chase to the bus. He said a number
of the suspects panicked when the police stopped the bus, and
tried to hide their weapons beneath the seats.
"Searching their bags, we found several watches, cellular
phones, wallets and jewelry," he said.
The officer declined to identify the street musician who
alerted the police because of safety concerns. (01)