Two held for stealing car side mirrors
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)