TRAFFIC OFFENCE EXPOSES CAR THIEF (PAGE 3)

A 19-year-old young man who was arrested by a police night patrol team in Takoradi for a traffic offence has turned out to be a car snatcher.
The suspect, Kwabena Adu Owusu, was arrested while driving at an unacceptable speed, but the saloon car used in committing the offence later turned out to have been stolen from a pastor of the United Christian Chapel in Takoradi.
Three of his accomplices who were in the car with him managed to escape.
A police source told the Daily Graphic that the patrol team pursued the vehicle, with registration number GR 450 S, and its occupants and caught up with them after it had developed a fault on the way.
However, three of the occupants took to their heels but Owusu was arrested.
It said a day after the vehicle had been stolen, the pastor had gone to the police station to report the theft, as well as that of the car tape recorder of another colleague.
According to the source, while the police were preparing to send messages across, there was a report from the night patrol team that a young man had been arrested for a traffic offence.
When the young man was sent to the station, the vehicle was identified as the one the pastor had reported stolen.
When it was searched, the car tape that had been stolen from the pastor’s friend’s vehicle was also found.
Owusu is currently in custody and is assisting the police in their investigations.
There has been a sharp increase in car snatching cases in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis of late and in less than a week more than four people have reported of their missing vehicles.
In another development, the police in Ashanti have offered a GH¢2,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a car-stealing syndicate operating in the Kumasi metropolis which has specialised in the stealing of 4x4 pick-ups, mostly Toyota Hilux, reports Kwame Asare Boadu.
Within a period of one month, the syndicate has robbed their victims of five Toyota Hilux pick-ups.
The registration numbers of the stolen vehicles were given as GV 479A, GW 5556Z, GE 5297Y, GR 7059Z and GN 2402Z.
The Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer (PRO), Inspector Yusif Mohammed Tanko, said in a statement that the syndicate went into hiding for some time but it had resurfaced recently.
The police said the modus operandi of the members of the syndicate was either to position themselves at the gates of the residences of the victims or trail them from town to rob them at the entrances to their homes.
The statement said the police were ready to provide escort for people who drove pick-ups in the night and lived at the outskirts of the Kumasi.
Drivers of pick-ups were also informed to take note of the police emergency numbers – 05122323, 05126220 and 0244871279.
The statement advised the public to call not only when they were in trouble but also when others were in similar situations.
The police further advised drivers to be alert and look out for criminals so that they would not fall prey to their activities.