Kasoa Car Snatcher Nabbed

Suspect Richard Annan in police custody
The Kasoa District Police Command has apprehended a 32-year-old carpenter for attempting to snatch a taxicab from its owner at Kasoa.

Suspect Richard Annan was said to have hired the services of the taxi driver from Kasoa to Okpeikuma and attempted to strangulate him on reaching a certain spot in an attempt to collect the vehicle.

He allegedly stabbed the victim in the right hand as a result of the struggle, before finally taking the vehicle from him.

An alarm was raised by the victim, leading to the arrest of suspect Annan.

Briefing DAILY GUIDE, the Kasoa District Police Crime Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Samuel Naa Musah, said the driver of a Nissan Sentra taxi told the police that Annan had attempted to strangulate him with a yellow rope.

He said the driver (name withheld) narrated to the police that while on their way, Annan, who was sitting in the passenger seat behind the driver's seat, ordered him to stop and tried to tie his neck with a nylon rope.

While struggling with the suspect to free himself, the driver added, suspect Annan pulled a jack-knife from his pocket and stabbed his right hand to overpower him.

Annan then collected the ignition keys from the driver and attempted to escape but the taxi driver raised an alarm that he was being attacked by a thief.

'The suspect also came out of the car and started shouting 'julor', 'julor', 'thief', 'thief', thereby attracting the attention of some of the residents and the two were arrested and handed over to the police,' DSP Musah added.

The police later visited the scene where the taxicab with registration number GE 2131-13 had been abandoned.

 A search in the car led to the retrieval of the yellow nylon, a bottle containing a substance with the inscription, 'artalis chemical', in a black polythene bag.

A jack-knife with bloodstains on it was also found in the bush not far from where the taxi was parked.

DSP Musah said the Kasoa police had since the beginning of this year received four car snatching complaints of the same modus operandi.

All the victims were hired from the Kasoa main traffic intersection to Okpeikuma where their cars were taken from them.

He said the police had managed to retrieve two of the cars which were abandoned at Asamankese and Adeaso.

'All the cars are Nissan models and some of the victims have identified the suspect as the man who had hired their services,' he added.

By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey
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