Private drivers on 'inside' track in auto theft
JAKARTA (JP): Vehicle owners may want to be more careful in sizing up prospective private drivers, or even take another look at the one they have already, particularly if an expensive make of car will be in their hands.
Police say drivers were accomplices in more than a third of recent cases of auto theft reported in the city.
Jakarta Police detectives chief Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo revealed the complicity of drivers in 33 cases of the 83 vehicle thefts reported from March to last weekend.
"Although we haven't found all of the missing cars, based on our preliminary investigation we learned that private drivers cooperated with auto theft groups in the crime," Alex said on Sunday.
"I'd like to warn the public to be careful in selecting new drivers."
According to the officer, most of the accused drivers were newly hired.
Under the coordination of vehicle theft gangs with well- established connections with notorious fencers for stolen cars, the drivers would focus on jobs driving luxury cars, such as Mercedes Benz sedans, BMWs and Toyota Land Cruiser jeeps. The preference also extended to Suzuki jeeps of the Escudo, Sidekick and Vitara makes whose keys are difficult to duplicate, Alex said.
Police also learned that most of the drivers were former petty criminals.
After being reported stolen, the cars were usually driven to illegal car markets in the West Java capital of Bandung and other nearby towns, such as Karawang, to be put on sale with fake documents, the officer said.
Actress
One of the accused drivers is Santoso, alias Budi, 31, who was arrested for alleged involvement in the theft of a Mercedes Benz sedan belonging to actress Misye Arsita, the star of the popular Jin dan Jun TV comedy.
Santoso previously worked as a vegetable seller, driver of a bajaj (three-wheeled motorized vehicle) and public minivan before being hired by Misye in April.
He insisted on Sunday that he did not want to steal the car but was "forced" by his friends, who repeatedly assured him that he could borrow money through mortgaging his employer's metallic green sedan.
"It's my friends who stole Ibu Misye's car. I only planned to mortgage it."
He said he desperately needed money for his ailing daughter and to cover his father's huge debt. He said he asked Misye to lend him Rp 5 million (US$695) but she refused.
His friends, knowing that Misye rejected his request for a loan, urged him to "mortgage" the car.
A few days later, he drove Misye to a shoot and then went to his home where his friend and neighbor Teddy was waiting.
"It was Teddy who sold the car to a man in Karawang," Santoso said.
Teddy is still at large.
Santoso claimed that he was arrested before Teddy gave him his share of the money.
Never thought
Misye, who visited Jakarta Police Headquarters on Sunday to thank officers for tracking her sedan, said she never thought her driver was involved in the theft.
She said Santoso convinced her that he was robbed.
"If I knew that he's going to steal the car, I would never have hired him. I can drive the car myself," she said.
According to Alex, Misye's Mercedes Benz sedan was among the 19 vehicles found in a series of raids by city police detectives recently.
All of the vehicles are on display at a parking lot at Jakarta Police headquarters to allow the public to reclaim their stolen vehicles.
They include a light brown Toyota Land Cruiser, a red BMW sedan, a dark blue Ford Laser sedan, a red Sidekick jeep and a Daihatsu Feroza jeep.
Alex said the cars were seized from 12 suspects in the past two weeks.
Based on the preliminary investigation, the 12 people worked for different groups, each of which had three or four members.
Police are searching for four other suspects.
Alex warned car owners not to be fooled by first impressions.
"Everybody sets out to impress their employers at the beginning. But we have to wait until we can really trust them," he said.
"Just be careful. I think it's better to hire relatives or people already close to us as our private drivers." (emf)