Robber mobbed to death

Robber mobbed to death

JAKARTA (JP): An angry crowd mobbed a man to death yesterday
for robbing the driver of an angkot, a seven-seat public
transportation minivan, in Tangerang, police said.

The crowd also caught the man's wife and beat her, City Police
spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said.

He said the woman, Yani, 30, confessed she, together with her
husband and friends, robbed another public transport driver
earlier in the morning as well.

"We are still looking for the four other men who were
identified by the woman as accomplices in the first robbery,"
Aritonang said.

According to Aritonang, Yani said she, her late husband
Anthony, 30, and four other men robbed a driver who served the
Karawaci-Perum I route.

"These six people pretended to be passengers. Somewhere along
Jl. Pandan Raya, Cibodas Sari, one of them threatened the driver
with a knife and demanded his money," Aritonang said.

The driver, Irwan Kusnadi, 23, refused and said he did not
have much money. He was stabbed in the neck when he scuffled with
the robber, after his wallet, containing Rp 30,000 (US$12), was
taken, Aritonang said.

He said the courageous Irwan managed to open the door and jump
out of the moving vehicle. The minivan then hit an electric pole.
The six people fled in separate directions.

"Yani said she and her husband jumped into another empty
minivan and decided to rob the driver, too, because they still
needed more money," Aritonang said.

The couple forced the driver, Iwan Saidris, out of the van
after they took his money.

But Anthony, who took over the steering wheel, could not
control the van very well. He drove into a house's fence just a
hundred meters away from where he dropped the driver off,
Aritonang said.

"Iwan, who saw the accident, immediately screamed out for
help. Nearby people rushed to the site and attacked the couple,
particularly Anthony," he said.

Aritonang said Anthony died before police could bring him to a
hospital.

Meanwhile, in North Jakarta, a teenager was also beaten
yesterday by a crowd for robbing his own neighbor, Aritonang
said.

Sixteen-year-old Ismayora Mahaan tried to rob Amin when the
latter screamed and attracted people's attention.

The crowd beat Ismayora after he tried to run, but slipped and
fell. He sustained severe injuries. (cst)