The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has raised an alarm over increased cases of car break-ins in Nairobi.
In a statement on Thursday, February 16, 2023, the directorate said the thugs behind the recent cases lie in wait at bank lobbies for unsuspecting customers making bulky transactions before trailing them and breaking into their cars with the aim of stealing their hard-earned cash.
In one of the incidents, four suspects were arrested last week after breaking into a parked car at South C's Rumi estate and stealing Ksh50,000 belonging to a city businessman.
The suspects, Fabian Ochieng Ndubi, Fredrick Wanyingi, Kevin Adote Onyango and Phil Scolten Ali were arrested after police retrieved CCTV footage from a distant building that captured the incident on February 3.
According to the DCI, the victim of the theft had earlier halted his Mercedes Benz at the Equity Bank Nairobi West Branch at around 2.30 pm, where he withdrew Ksh350,000 meant for payment of his workers at a construction site.
Unbeknownst to him and the bank security, therein was a man pretending to be filling account opening documents, but who stole quick glances at the withdrawal counters to spot any bulky transactions.
"At the parking yard in a white Mazda Demio were his three accomplices, awaiting his signal for whoever their target would be," DCI said.
As the victim left the bank in his car, the Mazda Demio bearing forged registration number KDC 906L trailed him all the way to Rumi Estate, parking a safe distance from their target who alighted and headed to the construction site.
As one of the suspects monitored the victim's movement, another armed with a catapult and a spark plug headed for the driver's window. The third was the getaway driver.
With the catapult, the suspect is said to have shattered the driver's window and stole Ksh50,000 before beckoning his partner to jump in their car. Luckily, the victim had alighted with the larger sum of Ksh300,000 and paid his workers.
The distraught victim would later book the report at Akila Police station, detailing his predicament but with zero clue on who the perpetrators could be.
"With the possibility of a distant CCTV camera having captured some images, police at Akila escalated the case to DCI Headquarters," DCI said, adding that detectives swung into action immediately in pursuit of the perpetrators.
Forensic analysts at the Imaging & Acoustic Unit retrieved CCTV footage from both scenes, identifying one of the suspects who acted as lead to his accomplices.
"By Friday, 10th February, the entire syndicate had been nabbed and two motor vehicles (KDD 515Q Mazda Demio and a KCE 107Y Toyota Belta) used in trailing victims detained," DCI disclosed.
According to the police, a search in the cars saw the recovery of the suspects' tools of the trade that included a catapult and nine spark plugs.
The suspects have since been arraigned at Kibera Law Courts where they pleaded not guilty to three counts: Conspiracy to commit a felony contrary to section 393 of the penal code; Stealing from a locked motor vehicle contrary to section 279(g) of the penal code; and malicious injury to property contrary to section 339 of the penal code.
Pending car theft case
Investigators have further established that Fabian Ochieng' jointly with another have a similar pending case of Stealing Ksh600,000 from a locked motor vehicle in June 2022, where they presented fake names at the same law courts as Raymond Muramba Mueni and Muthui Mutua.
DCI cautioned members of the public of the latest mode of operation by criminals and appealed to the security personnel manning banks to be on the lookout for such gangs who prey on Kenyans' toil and sweat.
