Police on Wednesday arrested 3 notorious suspects who have wreaked havoc on car owners by stealing spare parts in Kajiado Town and its environs.
The suspects are believed to operate in a syndicate that raids cars and steals valuable spare parts. According to the police, the syndicate prefers to raid when it is raining.
Confirming the incident, Kajiado’s Central Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) John Odhiambo stated the suspects will be arraigned in Court once investigations are complete.
“We have been trailing the suspects since Monday. Yesterday, we arrested two of them and the third one was nabbed today,” he stated.
The OCPD further explained the tactics deployed by the thieves especially when it is raining. “They mostly steal when it is raining because car owners cannot respond due to the noise,” he revealed.
A CCTV footage dated Tuesday, November 19, obtained by Kenyans.co.ke, shows the members of the gang breaking into a car, one steering the wheel while another another pushing it back before ripping off valuable spare parts.
During the arrests, some of the stolen spare parts including number plates, side mirrors, and headlights among other parts were recovered.
The stolen items will be used as exhibits when they are presented in Court. The suspects are now held at Kajiado Police Station awaiting to be arraigned for robbery.
The arrests come as car break-ins have been on the rise in the last few months with many thieves meticulously trailing their target cars before making break-ins.
In a recent case reported in Kitale in October, two thieves were caught on camera attempting to steal Ksh500,000 left unattended inside a car at a parking lot of a business complex located in the bustling town.
"We thank the security agencies for effecting the arrests because we had begun to live in fear. We have not been sleeping as we took care of our properties like watchdogs," one resident complained in an interview with Citizen TV.
Thieves are evolving when it comes to tactics they use to steal from car owners. This case highlights an updated breed of car robberies where burglars are no longer using guns as previously witnessed but have switched tactics to use crude weapons to break in and rip off prized spare parts.
