Four men rob driver, speed off with cab

Four men rob driver, speed off with cab

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After a series of robberies in taxis targeted at women
passengers, a taxi driver was robbed early on Wednesday by four
male passengers.

The taxi driver, identified as Hendri Irawan, had just started
working at 3 a.m. when four men flagged down the red-and-white
taxi and got in.

While in the taxi, one of them suddenly held a knife to
Hendri's neck while the others robbed him of his money. The four
men later kicked him out of the vehicle and drove off.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana
said that the police suspected the four were members of a band of
thieves.

"It is possible that it's the same gang that has been robbing
women taxi passengers over the past several months. We hope to be
able to solve the case as soon as possible," he said.

Wednesday's robbery was the 14th to involve a taxi this year,
with the police having solved only one case so far.

On Tuesday, female passenger Halimah, 30, was robbed by a taxi
driver in Sunter. She managed, however, to snatch the driver's
identification card from the dashboard before being thrown from
the taxi.

Armed with the identification card, the police arrested the
suspected robber, identified as Rusli alias Rudy, a freelance
taxi driver, at his rented house in Kampung Sawah, Cilincing,
North Jakarta, on the same day.

Police said that the incident suggested that previous taxi
robberies may have also been perpetrated by freelance taxi
drivers in connivance with the legitimate drivers of certain taxi
companies.

Police said they were finding it difficult to identify the
culprits due to a lack of clues.

Last Saturday, Reysah, 20, was robbed by a taxi driver and his
accomplices while several days earlier Susan Bayu Aji, 32, was
robbed by her taxi driver and two men who got into the taxi as
she was on her way home from a birthday party in Senayan, Central
Jakarta.

Early last month, Ellaide Rumiaty Tampubolon was also robbed
inside a taxi, that was made to appear like a Blue Bird taxi.