Man who stalked women on wheels captured at last

JAKARTA (JP): Police said they have captured a hard core repeat offender believed to have robbed thousands of car-driving women over the past two years.

"We hope with his arrest, women who drive cars can feel safe now," Lt. Col. Gories Mere, chief of the General Crime Office of the Investigative Directorate of the city police told a press conference yesterday.

Gories said the suspect, identified as Frans Karamoy, alias Edi Suyono, 40, a resident of the Kedoya district, West Jakarta, was captured on July 2 in a hairdressing clinic in West Jakarta, where he had a mistress.

"He initially tried to resist arrest and turned himself in only after police shot him in the leg," said Gories.

He said Frans, along with two accomplices whom police simply identified as AN and YS, had specialized in robbing rich, car- driving women since 1992.

The group, always armed with guns, usually forced their victims out of their cars by crashing into their vehicles with motorcycles.

They then quickly snatched the victims' bags and escaped on their motorcycles.

Sometimes, they followed their prey and snatched their bags anywhere they got out.

"He admitted to having committed such robberies up to five times a day since 1992," said Gories.

Based on the figure, the group is believed to have robbed around 2,000 women over the past two years.

The city police, said Gories, are familiar with Frans since he was a suspected criminal in 1978. He became known as a repeat offender after spending time in and out of jails throughout 1992.

At first, he committed various robberies and thefts. He was jailed in Jakarta and in the maximum security prison in Nusakambangan island, Central Java, for four years for the crimes.

After being released from Nusakambangan in 1981, he became a specialist in automobile theft. He was arrested by police and sentenced by a Jakarta district court to four-year jail term.

After being released from jail in the middle of 1992, Frans, together with former Nusakambangan inmates, AN and YS, changed their target to women drivers.

Suspicion

Explaining Frans' recent arrest, Gories said an undercover agent saw two men on a motorcycle disposing of an ID card along a roadside in Central Jakarta on July 1. The detective became suspicious and tracked them down to discover where Frans lived.

The next day, a team of detectives captured him at the West Jakarta hairdressing clinic.

"His two accomplices are still at large, one armed with a revolver. Our men are after them in Palembang (South Sumatra)," Gories said.

At Frans' home, police found five stolen passports, all with women's names, four "Niagacash" cards, one "Citibank Visa" card, two "BCA" cards, three ID cards, one vehicle document and one revolver loaded with six bullets.

Frans reportedly bought the revolver at Rp 750,000 (US$347) from a university student, a son of a retired military officer. The father and son have been summoned by the police for questioning. (jsk)