Two robbery suspects arraigned over cement, tuk tuk theft

The suspects are accused of being part of a five-member gang that raided the hardware, owned by Hellen Munene, at about 3am on Saturday.

According to police, the gang was armed with crude weapons and attacked two night watchmen, Oscar Masika and Paul Wanyonyi, leaving them seriously injured. The two were taken to hospital, treated and later discharged.

The suspects reportedly escaped with 36 bags of cement, a Toyota Hilux pick-up, 86 iron sheets, a gas cylinder, four rolls of binding wire and a Tuk Tuk.

Police said the suspects used the pick-up and Tuk Tuk to transport the stolen goods from the hardware.

Mwea East Sub-County Police Commander Henry Gitonga said detectives have been pursuing the suspects since the incident and have so far arrested two, while efforts to apprehend the other three are ongoing.

“We have recovered the Tuk Tuk at Togonye in Murinduko Ward and 33 bags of cement hidden at the suspect’s shop at Thiba. We arrested two suspects yesterday and they have been taken to court today, where detectives will request more days to complete investigations,” Gitonga said.

One of those arrested is the owner of the shop where the cement was recovered. Police identified him as Simon Wanjohi Muriithi, alias Customer, and suspect he may have played a leading role in the robbery.

Of the 36 bags of cement stolen, police said three had already been sold, while the remaining 33 were recovered from the shop.

“We used our intelligence to arrest the suspects and recover the items. We are now looking for the pick-up vehicle and other items. We have a lead,” Gitonga said.

The two suspects are being held at Wang’uru Police Station and were arraigned at the Wang’uru Law Courts on Thursday.

Police said they are continuing with investigations as they pursue the remaining three suspects and seek to recover the other stolen property.