Two held for stealing car side mirrors

JAKARTA (JP): Police arrested on Thursday two teenagers for allegedly attempting to steal side mirrors from a car at the Pacenongan intersection in Central Jakarta.

Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis told reporters on Friday that the two, Asep Komarudin of Sawah Besar and Triyono, alias Botak, of Kemayoran, both aged 17, had three accomplices, who managed to escape.

He said police detectives were searching for the three other suspects based on information from the arrested men.

Police confiscated four pairs of side mirrors from Asep and Botak. The mirrors were from various makes of car, including the newest model of Kijang van, and Suzuki Vitara, Toyota Corolla and Suzuki Baleno sedans.

"We also seized a screwdriver from each of the two, which are believed to be the main tools used in the thefts," Lubis said.

According to police, the two teenagers admitted they usually sold the mirrors to automotive spare parts traders in the Senen area for between Rp 200,000 and Rp 300,000, depending on the make of car.

According to Lubis, none of the traders have been raided, but he said police officers had been deployed to monitor their activities.

"Although we already know who's collecting the stolen property, arresting them is not a simple job, as we have to coordinate with the related city officials," he said.

"We also could only arrest them if they are caught with enough stolen goods as evidence."

Thefts of side mirrors by youths in the capital has become a serious worry for motorists.

The thefts, usually carried out by groups of four or five, occurred while cars were stationary at red lights at crowded intersections, at any time of the day. Reports of similar thefts have occurred in Pecenongan and Cempaka Putih in Central Jakarta, Kuningan, Gunung, and Cinere in South Jakarta.

Witnesses to the crimes have said that two people from the group remove the mirrors while the others act as lookouts and threaten the car occupants, often with weapons.

Police have said they believed thieves were jobless and amateurs.

Side mirrors are not their only targets. Using a range of tools, similar gangs have been known to remove and steal cassette players from inside cars. Motorists have had mobile phones and cash taken at knife-point while waiting at lights.

Many victims of such crimes, who cannot afford brand new side mirrors because of the weakening rupiah, buy replacements on the black market, where similar items are less than half the price.

The high prices paid for replacement parts is encouraging a growing number of thefts at intersections.

In most incidents, onlookers and other motorists reportedly did nothing to help the victims.

The authorities once deployed a joint team of soldiers and police officers to control these street crimes, which resulted in the arrest of dozens of people.

But the reports from the public suggest the incidence rate of such crimes is still high.

Embassies

According to a police source, the city police have received complaints about the issue from three embassies.

The embassies of Singapore, Thailand and France sent written complaints referring to the failure of police to curb the rampant crime on the capital's streets, the source said.

"The three embassies reported that 10 of their cars, mostly Kijang vans and Mercedes Benz sedans, all bearing diplomatic license plates, had side mirrors stolen while on the roads," he said.

But Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman denied the source's account, claiming his office has not received any complaints from embassies about the issue.

"No, I haven't read any of them. But if they do send me letters, I would appreciate it as a criticism for me and my subordinates to reshape our performance," Noegroho said. (emf)