A routine investigation of a house burglary that led to the theft of a cellphone and assault on the victim took a dark turn when police investigators unearthed a drove of evidence implicating the homeowner as a criminal himself.
According to a Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) report, officers drawn from the Inuka Police Station in Likoni responded to a burglary report following a distress call in the area.
Upon arrival, they established that armed assailants broke into the rented house of the victim and stole his phone alongside an undisclosed amount of money.
Supposedly, the criminals, who were armed with machetes and other crude weapons, gained entry into the house by climbing over the main gate and breaking the door to the house using metal bars.
The resident was then assaulted leaving him with two deep cuts on his head. He was ultimately taken to a local hospital for treatment.
As part of their investigation process, the officers returned to the victim's house for a thorough search.
During this exercise, they uncovered several suspicious items that led them to link the victim to criminal activity.
Hidden in a hole in the ceiling were four machetes, including a blood-stained one and two kitchen knives.
Alongside the weapons were stolen items including two television sets, 61 mobile phones, a portable public address system, a card reader, two ID cards bearing the same name as the suspect, and one more East African ID card.
On recovering the hidden stash, the suspect quickly switched from victim to suspect and was traced back to the hospital where he was undergoing treatment.
He was taken into custody alongside the exhibits recovered in his house for further processing.
He is currently being held at the Inuka Police Station awaiting arraignment in court.
