Man hunts down alleged culprit of taxi crimes

JAKARTA (JP): A man whose wife was allegedly attacked and robbed by a taxi driver spotted the culprit on Sunday after a two-week search and arranged neighborhood supporters to help punish him.

The driver of Prestasi taxi, a company formerly known as President Taxi, was badly mobbed by angry residents of Taman Galaxy housing complex in Bekasi.

The residents, neighbors to Franky, the man whose wife was robbed, joined efforts to punish the driver for the crime.

The driver, Muhammad, 35, suffered severe injuries to his face and legs, leaving him unable to talk.

He was saved from the attack by the arrival of local police officers, who rushed Muhammad to a nearby police station.

Tri Kartiningsih, Franky's wife, was allegedly attacked and robbed by the driver on July 16.

Thereafter, Franky watched each passing or parked Prestasi taxi in hopes of apprehending the driver after his wife retold her experience.

His wife, who received treatment at Mitra Hospital, was able to identify the taxi's door number as 2337.

Based on her information, Franky, a private employee, started his investigation to find the driver.

"When he saw a taxi bearing the same number on Sunday parked near the Mitra hospital, he flagged it down and told the driver to go to his house to pick up a passenger," City Police detective chief Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo said on Monday quoting the complainant.

Without suspicion, Muhammad, of Pejaten Timur in South Jakarta, followed Franky's car to the given address.

On the way, Franky, telephoned his relatives and local police, alerting them that he found the culprit and was on the way to the housing complex.

A large group of waiting residents hastily encircled the taxi and dragged the driver out of the car.

Without asking any questions, the driver was mobbed. Some struck his face with bricks and iron bars. Others burned lit cigarettes on his face.

Police officers came later to the site and dispersed the angry crowd.

The police inspected Muhammad's wallet and found many credit cards belonging to other people. None were his.

"We believe the suspect committed many robberies on his passengers before he was arrested," Alex said.

Franky had panicked on July 16 at 7:30 p.m. when friends of his wife telephoned him, suggesting that something bad might be happening to her.

"She was on the phone to her friend, chatting inside the taxi on her way home when suddenly her conversation was unexpectedly stopped and her friend heard a strange dialog," Alex quoted Franky as saying.

The telephone conversation reportedly turned into a bizarre monolog as Tri screamed while Muhammad abruptly hit her on her face and tried to snatch the cellular phone from her hands.

Muhammad then forced Tri's head on the back seat and tied adhesive tape around her head before taking her black bag -- containing a cellular phone, credit cards and Rp 60,000 cash (US$8) -- and later dumped her in a quiet area not far from her house. (emf)