Three arrested for robberies at intersections
JAKARTA (JP): Police arrested three men for allegedly robbing motorists at major street intersections on Thursday and Friday, an officer said.
City police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang said on Friday that the first suspect, identified as Dedy, 23, was arrested at the Cawang interchange traffic light in East Jakarta on Thursday after robbing Rahmat, 26, a driver working for a Japanese national.
"Police were forced to shoot the suspect in the left leg when he tried to escape," Aritonang said.
According to Aritonang, Dedy, a resident of Jl. Kebon Pala in the Makasar subdistrict of East Jakarta, posed as a mineral water vendor to approach his victim.
The suspect knocked on the window of the victim's sedan and showed a bottle of mineral water at about 4 p.m..
After the victim opened the window, Dedy threatened Rahmat with a knife and grabbed the victim's wallet, which contained thousands of rupiah and some documents, and then attempted to flee.
Two police officers who happened to be on patrol in the area were alerted to the robbery by the victim's shout for help and were able to arrest the suspect, Aritonang said.
The second suspect, identified as Yunus Wijaya, 26, was arrested at the Grogol intersection in West Jakarta at 8 p.m. for attempting to break into a truck belonging to telecommunications firm PT Siemens Telkom, Aritonang stated.
He said the suspect was attempting to forcibly open the back door of the truck with an iron bar when a policeman spotted the attempted robbery and arrested the suspect.
The third suspect, identified as Rony, 25, was arrested on Friday morning after stealing the side mirror of a car stopped at a traffic light in the Santa area of South Jakarta, Aritonang said.
When the suspect, a resident of Cempaka Putih in Central Jakarta, tried to remove the mirror with an iron bar, a police officer who happened to be in the area arrested him.
Aritonang stated that police would beef up their patrols of major street junctions, especially those more vulnerable to crimes.
"We will also take stern actions against street criminals. If needed, we will shoot to stop them," he said.
At least 12 alleged street criminals have been shot dead since police launched a crackdown on street crimes in November of last year.
Besides the 12 deaths, the police have so far also arrested more than 112 suspected street criminals.
The police's stern actions against such criminals have gained the support of the public thanks in large part to the rising number of street crimes and the increasing brutality of the criminals. (jun)