Kostrad officer shot, held for attempted vehicle theft

JAKARTA (JP): A Jagakarsa Police officer shot on Wednesday morning a member of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) who was apprehended while breaking into a van.

The soldier was shot in the leg when he fired on the police officers.

South Jakarta Police chief of detectives Comr. Napolean Bonaparte said at his office the Kostrad soldier was shot on Jl. Raya Lenteng Agung in Jagakarsa, South Jakarta.

Napolean identified the suspect as DS. Police sources identified the man as 21-year-old Second. Pvt. Desmanto.

Police confiscated a .9 caliber FN gun, seven bullets and a master key from the suspect.

The suspect told detectives he had borrowed the firearm "from his superior" because he was only a private and had not been issued a firearm, Napolean said.

He said two Jagakarsa Police officers were patrolling the area at 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday when they saw two men attempting to break into a Daihatsu Zebra van with a screwdriver.

The van was parked in the yard of a house with no fence, on Jl. Raya Lenteng Agung.

When one of the officers got out of the patrol car, one of the two suspects, not the Kostrad soldier, took out a sword and warned the police officer not to come any closer. The officer fired a warning shot into the air and the two suspects ran toward a man who was waiting for them on a motorcycle.

"DS suddenly took out an FN gun, aimed it at the police officer and prepared to shoot. So the police officer shot this (Kostrad) soldier in the right thigh," Napolean said.

"DS fell, managed to get up and get on the motorcycle with the other two suspects. The motorcycle sped away and the police gave chase in their patrol car. The police bumped the motorcycle, causing the motorcycle and the three suspects to go down. DS, who was shot, could not get back up."

The two other suspects were able to escape on the motorcycle, Napolean said.

He added that after the other two suspects fled, DS stood up, cocked his gun and tried to fire, but the gun jammed.

The police said they believed DS was ordered to steal the van, but the suspect refused to speak.

Napolean said police were searching for the other two suspects, identified only as RM and RS, both of whom drive public minibuses.

He said that after being questioned, DS would be handed over to the Jakarta Police's Internal Affairs Division along with his dossier, and that Army Headquarters had already been informed of the matter. (ylt)