One shot dead and four arrested in Central Jakarta taxi robbery

JAKARTA (JP): Police shot to death a suspected taxi robber and arrested four other people, including a 16-year-old female, during a midnight raid in Central Jakarta, says a police officer.

Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna said yesterday that the group was charged with robbing the driver of a Gading taxi and attempting to steal the vehicle on Tuesday evening.

"A neighborhood security guard, who tried to stop the suspects, was stabbed in the head and the left hand by one of the group members," Iman said.

The dead suspect, identified as Mamat, was shot after trying to attack passersby and resist arrest, Iman said.

His accomplices were identified as Herlina, 16, who is the only female in the group, Sidik, 19, Darmadji, 26 and Mochamad Mamad, alias Jeger, 23.

Herlina is a resident of Jl. Kalibata Timur in South Jakarta, while the other four live in Pasar Minggu, also in South Jakarta.

According to the preliminary police investigation, one of the suspects stopped the taxi, driven by Saleh, 38, at around 11 p.m. on Jl. Raya Bekasi in Bekasi, 30 kilometers east of Jakarta.

"After the taxi stopped, the four, including the girl, came out from their hiding place and got into the taxi together," Iman said.

The group then asked Saleh to drive them to Jl. Cempaka Putih in Central Jakarta.

Before arriving at their destination, one of the group members put a machete to Saleh's neck and demanded his money and told him to move out of the driver's seat, Iman said.

"At the same time, Herlina quickly cut the cable of the taxi radio," said the spokesman.

Earnings

The suspected robbers then took the driver's Rp 42,500 (US$18.08) earnings, from which they returned Rp 1,000 for transportation. With the machete still at his neck, they told Saleh to get into the back of the taxi. They said they intended to dump him somewhere.

The group then drove the taxi to the Mangga Dua shopping area and stopped at a dead end off Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta after their car hit a parked car.

One of the group members wounded a neighborhood security guard with the machete. They then dispersed upon seeing a number of passersby rush to the scene after Saleh screamed.

Three of the suspects, Herlina, Sidik and Darmadji, were arrested several minutes later near the scene.

"Mamat was found several minutes later and was shot after trying to attack passersby and our officers and failing to obey the warning shots fired by the police," Iman said.

The latest suspect, Jeger, was apprehended at about 5:30 a.m. yesterday, apparently hiding somewhere near the scene.

"Our records list the suspects as repeatedly having committed similar crimes in certain parts of Bekasi and East Jakarta and the surrounding areas," Iman said.

North Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Abubakar Nataprawira said that the group had allegedly planned to rob a bank executive's house in Pulo Gadung.

"But they found that the banker's house was crowded at the time. They said they had to cancel the plan," Abubakar said.(bsr/jun)