Thief shot dead in North Jakarta

Thief shot dead in North Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): A suspected thief was shot and killed yesterday by police in North Jakarta.

Mamat, 25, who was caught stealing a tape recorder from a car parked in Plumpang, attacked a group of police officers with a sickle. The attack stopped when one of the officers shot him in the body. One officer was seriously injured in the attack and is now hospitalized, police sources said.

Witnesses said that Mamat refused to respond when community security guards approached the car he had broken into.

The guards reported the incident to a group of policemen patrolling in the area but Mamat refused to leave the car when they arrived.

"He jumped out of the car and attacked the officers with sickle," a resident said.

In another part of the city, three security guards from a mineral water distributor at Jl. Kembangan, West Jakarta, were attacked by four unknown men.

M. Nur said he and two other guards were in the guard room when a van containing six people arrived outside the office at about 2 a.m. Four of them suddenly jumped into the guard room and attacked them.

They tied the guards up and locked them in the room, before escaping with Rp 5 million (US$2,225) in cash. (05)