Four arrested for robbing minibus passengers
Four arrested for robbing minibus passengers
JAKARTA (JP): Police arrested four men believed to be members
of a gang stealing from commuters they pick up in a rented
minibus after an early morning chase in Bekasi.
"The police are still searching for the other gang members the
suspects informed us about," City Police spokesman Lt. Col. A.
Latief Rabar said on Friday.
The suspects told the police that their gang had been
operating for a year at several areas in and around the city with
the small van, which they used as a taxi.
The four suspects were arrested at around 1:30 a.m. on Friday
just half an hour after they robbed four passengers aboard their
red Suzuki minibus.
The group consisted of eight thieves, four of which escaped in
the dark after police shot out a tire in the van after a high-
speed chase along Jl. Cakung in Bekasi.
According to the police report, the incident started at 1 a.m.
when the four commuters got into the van in Jatiasih, also in
Bekasi. The gang said that they were heading to East Jakarta.
On the way, members of the gang ordered their passengers at
knife-point to hand over all of their belongings or be killed.
The robbers collected Rp 300,000 (US$140) cash, two wristwatches
and two bags belonging to the four male passengers.
"Minutes later, they threw the victims out the van and then
sped off," Latief said.
A police night-patrol unit in the area at the time saw the
speeding minibus coming from the opposite direction and signaled
to the driver to stop.
When the van failed to pull over, the police patrol car turned
around in pursuit near where the robbery victims had been turned
out of the van. The police officers heard the victims' screaming
for help from the roadside and took the four passengers into
their car before continuing pursuit of the van.
"After several minutes chase, the police officers saw the van
and shot out the back window in an attempt to get the driver to
stop. The van kept speeding away, so the officers fired another
shot and flattened a tire, causing the van to swerve to a stop at
the edge of the road," Latief said.
Four of the eight gang members fled the van along with the Rp
300,000 in cash.
"Sooner or later we will arrest them because we know who they
are," he added.
The arrested suspects are Suparman, 24, Abdul Kirom, 24,
Mulyadi, 30 and Wahnud, 19. Suparman is believed to be the leader
of the gang, whose members are mainly residents of North Jakarta.
During questioning, the suspects said they always moved from
one area to another and had committed a series of similar
robberies in Senen, Pondok Gede, Cililitan, Cakung and Bekasi.
Suparman admitted to taking part in at least 12 robberies.
(bsr)