Three arrested for robberies at intersections
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)