Tragic: Ride-Hailing Driver Stabbed to Death While Sleeping, Motorbike Stolen

A basecamp for online motorcycle taxi drivers turned into a scene of horror when Agus Tedjo, a driver, was stabbed to death whilst he slept. The incident occurred on Sunday (12/7) at around 03:50 WIB in the Villa Taman Bandara housing complex, Dadap, Kosambi, Tangerang Regency. Agus was the victim of a robbery and murder.

Agus was resting between jobs before dawn when the perpetrator, Rahmat Dimas, passed by the basecamp. Spotting an unattended motorbike, he intended to steal it. ‘The victim was an online motorcycle taxi driver. The victim lost a Honda PCX motorbike and a mobile phone,’ said AKP Iwan Heristiawan, Head of Public Relations for the Tangerang City Metro Police, when contacted by journalists on Tuesday (14/7).

Without hesitation, Rahmat searched Agus’s pocket for the keys. Agus immediately awoke. Feeling cornered, Rahmat, who was carrying a knife, furiously stabbed Agus. ‘The victim was stabbed while sleeping. The victim died at the scene, suffering a stab wound to the neck,’ he stated.

Rahmat’s vicious act was quickly noticed by another ride-hailing driver. However, Rahmat immediately fled with Agus’s motorbike and phone. ‘When (the victim’s colleague) passed by again, he saw the victim’s motorbike being ridden away by an unknown person. He then gave chase until losing track of him in the Kamal area, North Jakarta,’ he said.

Chased from Tangerang to North Jakarta by Agus’s colleague, the witness eventually lost Rahmat’s trail and decided to return to the basecamp. Tragically, Agus had already died at the scene.

The police launched an investigation and Rahmat was eventually detained by the Metro Jaya Regional Police. ‘It is confirmed that a joint team from Sub-Directorate III for Fugitives/Mobile Investigation of the Metro Jaya Police’s General Criminal Investigation Directorate has secured a man with the initials RD alias D (25),’ said Metro Jaya Police Head of Public Relations, Commissioner Budi Hermanto, to journalists on Tuesday (14/7).

Rahmat was arrested on Tuesday at 00:30 WIB in a rented room on Jalan Bunderan Kamal, Kamal Muara, Penjaringan, North Jakarta. He was captured whilst on the run. Rahmat was also reported to have resisted arrest and was shot by officers. ‘He also fled the crime scene and his residence. He resisted the officers conducting the arrest and pursuit, so our Sub-Directorate for Mobile Investigation took firm, measured action against the perpetrator,’ said Chief of Unit V, Sub-Directorate for Mobile Investigation, Metro Jaya Police, Commissioner Arief Ryzki Wicaksana.

Police revealed Rahmat’s excuse for murdering and robbing Agus. The perpetrator claimed he was under financial pressure to pay for his wedding. ‘The motive of the perpetrator, during our interrogation, he admitted that he was under pressure in his life related to being forced by his parents to get married immediately,’ said Arief Ryzki Wicaksana.