Sat, 13 Nov 1999

Police shoot hoodlum to death

JAKARTA (JP): Central Jakarta police detectives shot a homeless criminal to death, when caught red-handed snatching a gold necklace from a woman who was waiting for a bus in front of Senen market on Friday morning, Central Jakarta police chief of detectives said.

Maj. Budiono Sandi said Chief Sergeant Niasman Purba, who was in the area, shot 21-year-old thief Alex in his left chest, when Alex, who was armed with a pocket-knife, tried to run off.

"Alex managed to get up with the help of his friends in the area and started to run toward the market. His friends got him admitted at Gatot Subroto Army hospital in Central Jakarta," Budiono told reporters at the Central Jakarta police precinct.

"Police tried moving the culprit to the National Police Kramat Jati hospital in East Jakarta ... Alex died on the way there."

The stolen seven-gram gold necklace was returned to the owner.

In a related development, a homeless person was found dead under the Ralin crossover on Jl. Abdul Muis, Central Jakarta, with strangle marks on his neck, police officers of Gambir police subprecinct said on Friday.

Residents said the victim, Endang, was the fourth corpse found in the neighborhood this year. Police did not elaborate further on the case.

Between Thursday and Friday, three other robberies took place in the capital, city police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said.

At least eight people have been declared suspects in the early morning robbery on Friday of 60-year-old Udin, from Sindang village, Mabugorah, Tigaraksa in Tangerang.

"The suspects broke into the man's home at about 1:30 a.m., and one of them held a knife to Udin's throat. The other suspects got away with Udin's black Honda sedan. Tangerang police are still looking into the matter," Lubis told reporters at city police headquarters.

"Not one suspect has been arrested as yet."

Seven people have been declared suspects in the robbery late on Thursday night of 45-year-old Cokro Buwono, in North Jakarta.

A police report said the suspects' van accidentally hit Cokro's car, on Jl. Polipa Raya, near the Wisma Gading Permai complex, in North Jakarta, at 11 p.m.

The suspects got out of their van and demanded Cokro show them his car's papers.

Cokro was then dragged into their van where they tied up his hands and legs. They robbed him of two Nokia cell phones, a Patek Phillip wristwatch, Rp 6 million and US$200 (Rp 1.4 million) in cash and his loafers.

Meanwhile, North Jakarta police detectives have declared four people as suspects in the Thursday morning robbery of 28-year-old Tri Haryati and 25-year-old Hendro Sasongko.

Four people on two RX-King motorcycles held both Tri and Hendro at gunpoint and snatched their bag containing Rp 25 million, near the Yon Air military housing complex in Semper Barat, Cilincing, North Jakarta.

Both Tri and Hendro had just arrived from the Rawamangun office of Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) bank, from where they had withdrawn the money. (ylt/01)