Man admits to vandalizing vehicle inside police station
A man who was arrested while attempting to vandalize a motor vehicle parked inside Villa Police station in Nairobi has pleaded guilty to charges of stealing motor vehicle parts contrary to section 279 (c) of the Penal Code.
Samson Shampasina Nina, 32, was charged with stealing two motor vehicle batteries valued at Sh31,000 from a lorry belonging to a company on September 22, 2023.
He admitted the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Monica Kivuti of the Makadara Law Courts.
Mr Nina was to be charged with an alternative count of handling stolen goods in contravention of section 322 (2) of the criminal procedure code after he was found with the two batteries but the charge was dropped after he admitted the main charge.
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He is accused of dishonestly retaining the batteries in the course of stealing them when he was found under the lorry by a police officer who arrested him at around 7 p.m.
The police officer noticed that there was someone under the lorry and went closer to find Mr Nina having removed the two batteries and arrested him.
Mr Nina attempted to run away but the officer grabbed him before he took off.
He was taken to one of the station’s investigations offices for interrogations together with the two stolen batteries and tools he was using to remove them.
During interrogations, Mr Nina told the police that he was stealing the batteries to sell to a second-hand motor spare parts dealer along Jongoo Road who had bought seven others from him.
He told the police that he had stolen 16 others which he sold to two dealers. The accused person said he had sold five others to a dealer in the Pipeline area of Embakasi, and four others to an official of a public service vehicle (PSV) Sacco in the area.
The prosecution had listed three police officers including the station’s commander Chief Inspector James Mose as witnesses against Mr Nina but they will not testify since he did not deny the charges.
The case will be mentioned on October 3 when the prosecution will lay out its case against him and table the exhibits including the two batteries and the tools that Mr Nina was found using to remove them from the vehicle.