Police kill three motor bike thieves, nab gangs
The Jakarta Post, Tangerang/Depok/Bogor
Police apprehended three gangs of alleged motorcycle thieves in Tangerang, Depok and Bogor over the last two days, and shot and killed three of them in separate operations.
Tangerang police happened upon a motorcycle that had been reported stolen as it was parked in front of a coffee stall at the Cikupa Mas industrial plant. Two men were seen inside the coffee stall.
Seeing the police approaching, one of the men identified as Andre, 30, pulled out a revolver and aimed it at the police, but the law men quickly drew their guns and grabbed Andre's revolver.
"But after handing over his gun, Andre tried to run away so the police shot him in the back as he had ignored the repeated warning shots," deputy chief of Tangerang police detectives, Insp. Kustanto, was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
The other man, Mohamad Nuh, 30, who is a cohort of Andre's from the same village in East Lampung, Lampung province, also tried to flee by trying to ride away on the motorcycle in question. The policemen then shot him in the leg. Nuh later told police of the whereabouts of the third member of their gang, identified as Yahya, 30, who lives in Jatiuwung district.
After the injured man had taken the police to Yahya's residence, the police then shot and killed Nuh as he reportedly tried to run away again.
Yahya's information led the police to arrest Soleh, 28, a resident of Tambak Serang village, Serang, Banten province, who they identified as the key buyer of the stolen motorcycles.
Kustanto said the gang had been the target of police for a number of thefts in Tangerang since January.
On Tuesday, Depok Police arrested three men suspected of stealing hundreds of motorcycles since the year 2000. The three, identified as Firmansyah, 32; Parianto, 28; and Cecep, 28; are residents of Kampung Bojong, Sukmajaya subdistrict, Depok.
Tipped off by suspicious neighbors, police arrested the three at Firmansyah's rented house. The neighbors said the three men always "went to work" at night and returned home the next morning driving various types of motorcycles.
Depok Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Raja Erizman said the suspects admitted they had stolen 36 motorcycles this August and September alone.
Police said the suspects admitted they stole the motorcycles from victims' houses, sometimes threatening the owners with large knives.
The motorcycles reportedly were sold to a buyer in Central Jakarta for between Rp 1.3 million (US$152) and Rp 2 million each.
Bogor police detective chief Adj. Comr. Yayan Sofyan said that the police had apprehended key members of two alleged motorcycle robbery gangs known as the Herdy gang and the Farid gang. Herdy's leader Herdy Setiadi alias Cueng was also shot to death by police while trying to escape.
One of the Farid group, Ud, is still at large.
"These gangs claimed they 'work' in 16 locations in Bogor and Sukabumi, and they would sell the stolen motorcycles to a buyer in Pelabuhan Ratu, Sukabumi," Yayan said.
The stolen motorcycles were usually sold in remote areas and used as motorcycle taxis, ojek.