How CCTV footage led detectives to five suspects linked to car breakings
Detectives in Nairobi on Thursday, arrested five suspected thugs who reportedly stole nearly Sh2 million from a motorist in South C.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) described the suspects as dreaded and ones known for stealing from locked vehicles within the city.
The five suspects are alleged to have stolen Sh900,000 and another USD 15,000 from a businessman based in Nairobi’s South C area two weeks ago.
On that occasion, they allegedly broke into a BMW X1 belonging to one businessman and made away with the cash among other valuables.
The car owner reported that the incident happened after he parked his vehicle along Muhoho Road and entered an auto parts shop.
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Less than five minutes later when he returned to his vehicle, he found the car’s rear window broken and a bag containing the cash stolen.
The suspects also made away with the car owner’s ATM cards, national ID card, smart driving license and assorted job-related documents.
Later that evening, he received an alert on his phone of Sh40,000 withdrawals from his KCB account and a similar amount from his DTB account.
The Nairobi region Crime Research team initiated a forensic-led trail on the suspects and arrested the first suspect who had been captured on CCTV breaking into the vehicle.
According to the police, a second and third suspect were also captured on camera keeping watch as their accomplices smashed the car window with a catapult.
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A fourth suspect, a female, was captured stalking the victim, as the fifth suspect waited in a getaway Mazda Demio fitted with registration plates KCE 822F belonging to a Subaru car.
The police said they managed to round up the suspects before their vehicle was traced to Tsavo Gardens.
In the vehicle, police recovered the victim’s ATM card and car-breaking tools, including a catapult. The five suspects were booked at DCI Lang’ata offices.
At the same time, the police are trailing a sixth suspect who they believe fled to Mombasa.
Police added that they believe that the syndicate is linked to four other suspects who were arrested on February 16, 2023 after a series of car breakings using similar tools in South C, Nairobi.