Police shoot dead taxi driver's robber

Police shoot dead taxi driver's robber

JAKARTA (JP): The robber of a taxi driver was shot dead by
police Saturday after trying to escape from police custody on Jl.
May. Jend. Sutoyo, in Cawang, East Jakarta.

A police sergeant of the East Jakarta police precinct said
Harianto stopped a Blue Bird taxi on Jl. Bekasi Timur and asked
the driver, Zubairi, 28, to take him to Kampung Melayu bus
terminal.

"The suspect threatened to stab Zubairi with a knife and stole
his wallet containing Rp 27,000 (US$11.58)," the sergeant, who
requested anonymity, said.

He said the suspect slashed the driver's left hand.

Local residents alerted by the scuffle mobbed the suspect, the
sergeant said. "They than handed over the suspect to the police."

He said the robbery enraged Zubairi's fellow drivers.

At least 50 drivers visited the police precinct demanding the
police turn over the suspect to them, he said. "We managed to
calm them down."

The police sent the suspect to Kramatjati Police Hospital for
medical treatment on injuries inflicted by the mob, he said.

On the way back to the police precinct from the hospital the
suspect tried to escape, the officer said. "We had no other
choice after the warning shots were ignored."

The suspect, a 24-year-old street singer, died instantly. He
was a resident of Jl. Bulak, Duren Sawit in East Jakarta.

On Friday, with the help of local residents, the police
arrested four men for allegedly robbing two President taxi
drivers in North and West Jakarta.

In October taxi drivers were robbed in Bekasi, South Jakarta
and West Jakarta. The robbers threatened their victims with
knives and one of the drivers was stabbed to death.

President Taxi driver Sjamsul Bahri, 40, was found dead in his
car with 16 stab wounds in his chest. He was found in the remote
village of Setia Mulya, Bekasi. The murderer is still at large.

There have been 28 taxi driver robberies, in which some
drivers, including Sjamsul, were killed, over the last three
months. The culprits of 18 of the robberies have been caught.
(jun)