Robberies at convenience stores: Teenage dropout the mastermind
Published on: Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: A 17-year-old dropout was found to be the mastermind of a series of robberies at four convenience stores here and in Penampang.The boy from Kg Tanjung Aru Lama was also found using his parents' vehicles to commit the crime with 14 youths comprising one schoolboy, 10 dropouts and three who are working at five-star hotels here on April 19.Disclosing this, City Police Chief ACP M. Chandra said all have been remanded for four days until April 23 to be investigated under Section 395/397 of the Penal Code for committing armed robbery. He said the male suspects were believed to have committed the robberies not to get rich but just being naughty and mischievous while the young girls stayed inside the vehicles.
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"All the suspects are aged between 15 and 28 whereby 13 of them are under 20 while two are above 20 apprehended at separate times after the arrest of seven people last Sunday."They were alleged to be involved in the four armed robberies with total items stolen and two vehicles seized valued at about RM60,000."But we believe that the 15 suspects are involved in more than four robberies here in 24-hour convenience stores and we believe more cases will be resolved," he said in a press conference here, Tuesday.Chandra said the suspects tested negative for drugs.
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He said the modus operandi for all the robberies was the same whereby two male suspects would patronise the premises pretending to buy goods and on reaching the counter to pay, they would threaten the cashier with pocket knives or 'parang' to take out all money from the cash registers before fleeing in a car.On April 16, he said the armed suspects robbed a convenience store at Towering Penampang using a parang at 3.30am and total losses amounted to RM261, while on April 18, they robbed two such stores at 4.45am at Centre Point with total losses of RM374 and another one at 5.20am at Taman Cantek, Lido with total losses of RM290.
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In the latest robbery, he said the suspects were alleged to have robbed the store at Bandaran Berjaya at 5.47am on April 19, causing a loss of RM38 cash and 48 chocolate bars."We received a call from a 16-year-old working at the convenience store at Bandaran Berjaya at 5.50am that the premises was robbed by two unmasked men."The suspects took a soft drink, 48 chocolate bars and cash RM38 from the cash register before fleeing in a maroon Proton Wira."We launched an operation to track down the suspects and there was a high speed pursuit between the police patrol cars and the Proton Wira when the vehicle was spotted at Signal Hill," Chandra said.He said the pursuit between the police and the suspects lasted for 45 minutes.However, Chandra said the vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a monsoon drain at Taman BDC Kolombong which led to the arrest of seven people inside the Proton Wira. Fortunately, he said all seven suspects inside the vehicle only sustained minor injuries. Of the suspects, he said three were males including the mastermind and a 15-year-old schoolboy from Menggatal, plus four women aged between 15 and 18."Our initial probe showed the Proton Wira used in the robbery was not reported stolen but the car belongs to the mastermind's father. We seized the vehicle, a knife and a metal bar from inside the vehicle as well as several chocolate bars."Following this arrest, six more were nabbed comprising five men and a 22-year-old woman at Api-Api Centre."One of them is a 28-year-old man from Kg Tanjung Aru Lama who is a habitual offender with five previous convictions for taking drugs and was jailed for two years for committing robbery in 2013," he said.On the same day, Chandra said two male youths – a 17-year-old and a 19-year-old – who worked as a part-time banquet waiter, were apprehended at Kepayan Ridge on suspicion of robbing convenience stores.According to him, the police also confiscated a Perodua Myvi belonging to the mastermind's mother at Kepayan Ridge as it was believed used in committing the robberies.On whether the five females were directly involved in robbing the convenience stores, Chandra said the police are investigating but that they denied being the girlfriends of the male suspects."The 15 suspects are just friends who do not have any specific place to gather and the crime they allegedly committed was not an organised crime. "During my interview with them, they told me that they are still living with their parents or guardian. It is believed that they are being naughty but, nonetheless, we are still investigating the case, seriously," he said.On traffic aspect, Chandra said the police are also taking action against the Wira driver for driving recklessly under Section 42(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987, which carries a jail term up to five years or a fine of between RM5,000 and RM15,000, or both, on conviction."During the pursuit with police, the Wira driver was driving dangerously until the car skidded off the road and plunged into a monsoon drain at Kolombong."The driver was also found not having a driving licence for which he could be charged under Section 26(1) of the same Act, which carries a fine of between RM300 and RM2,000 or a maximum of three months' jail, or both, on conviction," he said. He said the owners of the two vehicles – Wira and Myvi – which belong to the parents of the mastermind, would be charged for allowing their vehicles to be driven by their child who has no driving licence.He said the parents can be charged under Section 39(5) of the same Act which carries a maximum fine of RM2,000 or up to six months' jail or both, on conviction.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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