Four alleged car thieves shot to death

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police detectives shot and killed four alleged vehicle thieves, believed to be one of the city's most wanted gangs, in a single raid in Cibubur, West Java, Monday evening.

City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said yesterday the officers had to shoot the four armed suspects shortly after the officers were fired on by the group.

"One of the suspects started shooting," Aritonang said. "In an attempt to defend themselves, the detectives shot back."

Police confiscated an FN pistol with five bullets left in the magazine and three ammunition cases from the suspects as evidence, he said.

According to Aritonang, the four -- Ajis Subardin, 36, Bambang Sudasmin, 28, Soddir, 31, and Wardi, 27 -- have allegedly been involved in a series of armed robberies for years.

The shooting on Jl. Raya Cileungsi in Cibubur took place following last week's theft of a BMW sedan by the group when they stole it from a man in West Jakarta, he said.

"The four took the sedan after threatening the victim, who was just about to close his gate on Jl. Bata," Aritonang said.

He said one of the suspects put a sickle around the neck of owner Leonardus Itjan Darmani, while another grabbed the car key.

The group fled and was located by police detectives on Monday while the suspects were planning to sell the stolen car to an unidentified person, the spokesman said.

Knowing they were surrounded by plainclothes police officers, the four hastily got into their Toyota Kijang van and one of them fired shots at the detectives, he said.

The van, with its windows badly damaged in the ensuing gunfire, was also seized as evidence, Aritonang said.

The fatal shooting of the four suspects brings the death toll to six people killed by police in the city so far this year.

The first two victims were a man who was shot dead on Jan. 14 after allegedly stealing a motorcycle in West Jakarta and a 15- year-old student who was accidentally shot in the head and killed the next day in a street brawl in Central Jakarta. (cst)