Police imposter who robbed two in Utawala facing robbery with violence charges
A suspected police imposter who allegedly robbed two people of their cash and forced them to transfer cash to his M-Pesa account at gunpoint in Utawala, Nairobi is facing charges of robbery with violence.
The suspect, Mr Ben Angwenyi Barongo, was on Thursday charged with robbing Alex Muthiani Kasyoka of Sh3,750 on December 15, 2023 while armed with a pistol. He is said to have used actual violence on the complainant during the alleged robbery that happened at 1pm.
In the second count, Mr Barongo is accused of robbing Titus Mwangi of Sh4,700 and assaulting him during an incident that happened in broad daylight.
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The two men were walking towards Embakasi from Utawala when they met the accused person who was dressed in jungle green t-shirt bearing a loge of the General Service Unit.
He stopped and handcuffed them before leading them to a nearby thicket where he allegedly robbed them while assaulting them with a plastic pipe.
The suspect is said to have forced the two men to send Sh1,000 each to his phone number which they obliged under threats.
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He later released the two and ordered them to disappear before he took off towards the Utawala area.
Mr Kasyoka and Mr Mwangi made a report at Embakasi Police Station and the matter was taken over by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). The two men later sought treatment after lodging their complaint.
The DCI officers started their investigations by getting the M-Pesa message from the two complainants’ phones and recording their statements and visiting the scene of the crime.
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The detectives continued tracing the suspect who was nabbed on January 17, 2023 at the same scene where he had detained another victim from whom he was demanding a bribe while wearing the same GSU t-shirt.
The pipe he had allegedly used to assault Mr Kasyoka and Mr Mwangi was allegedly recovered from him.
The accused person was escorted to Embakasi Police Station where investigations were concluded.
Mr Barongo denied the charges before Senior Resident Magistrate Mercy Malingu and was granted a bond of Sh500,000 without an option of a cash bail. The case will be mentioned on February 28, 2023 before hearing starts on April 3, 2023.