Cell phone thief shot dead

JAKARTA (JP): Police detectives shot dead an alleged cellular phone thief at midnight on Tuesday when he attempted to escape arrest at the Coca Cola intersection in North Jakarta.

The city police chief of detectives for general crimes, Comr. Tito Karnavian, identified the suspect as Roberta Parulian Mangunsong, 29, a resident of Cempaka Putih subdistrict, Central Jakarta, which is close to the intersection.

Tito said Roberta and his two friends were caught stealing a cell phone belonging to a man named Budiarso at a red light in East Jakarta.

"We asked the suspect to show us where he and his friends usually met after a robbery. He said in the Bogor area. At first he was compliant, but when we reached the Coca Cola intersection, in the Pendongkelan area, he tried to escape."

Warning shots were fired, but as Roberta kept running the police shot him. A bullet which struck his back ended the chase." (ylt)