Auto theft second major offenses, city police say
Auto theft second major offenses, city police say
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Auto theft has become the second major offense this year as
between five and seven cars are reportedly stolen every day.
Up until June this year, police received 2,922 reports of auto
theft comprising of 2,370 motorcycles, 545 cars and seven three-
wheeled vehicles. There were 2,955 cases of burglary, 718 cases
of robbery and 674 cases of homicide.
Last year a total of 5,992 auto theft cases were reported,
4,687 cases of burglary and 2,099 cases of robbery.
According to data obtained by The Jakarta Post on Wednesday,
South Jakarta experienced the highest number of auto thefts with
665 cases, while Central Jakarta and East Jakarta had
respectively 598 cases and 538 cases. The lowest numbers were in
the Tanjung Priok (KPPP) port area with seven cases and Tangerang
with 87 cases reported.
City Police Detective chief Sr. Comr. Andi Chaeruddin said
that police officers had uncovered three auto theft syndicates,
comprising of 15 suspects.
"We arrested 10 suspects but five remain at large," he said.
Police also seized 10 stolen cars from areas of Jakarta,
Bogor, Bandar Lampung in Lampung and Prabumulih in South Sumatra.
Andi said that the syndicates targeted private cars parked in
garages -- the thieves broke the padlocks and switched off the
car's alarm. Then they pushed the cars away from the houses and
used the spare keys to switch on the ignition and flee from the
scene.
"However, in some cases thieves used girls to distract their
victims before taking their cars," Andi said.
One of the victims, Satori, 52, claimed his car from the City
Police Headquarters on Wednesday. Satori, a lecturer at a
university in Surakarta, Central Java, said that he had been
drugged by a girl claiming to be his ex-student and another man
claiming to be her father.
"We met on May 29 in a book shop. She offered me candy but I
felt faint and collapsed... When I woke up they had taken my
car," he said.
Andi admitted that the police had solved less than 10 percent
of crimes involving auto theft this year. He blamed people for
not reporting the thefts to the police.
He revealed that most of the auto theft gangs were very
professional and could transport the stolen cars from out of the
city within a day.
Some auto thieves repainted the stolen cars and changed the
license-plates, he added.
"Auto theft suspects are in most cases very mobile. We found
it difficult to catch them owing to late information from the
victims. Too late for us to catch the suspects," he said.
Andi suggested that car owners could employ extra security
measures to avoid theft.
"To discourage the thieves they can use padlocks or an alarm
system," he said.
Meanwhile, chief of the City Police Detective's Auto Theft
Division, Adj. Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said that those who want
to claim their cars can bring their proof of ownership
certificate (BPKB) to the police.
"No money is required," claimed Boy.