A day after a gang struck at a
\nrestaurant in Westlands, Nairobi, and robbed customers, the prime suspects are
\nsaid to have been shocked to find footage of the attack circulating online.<\/p>\n
They switched off their mobile phones
\nand went underground, police who have been pursuing them reveal.<\/p>\n
Some of them were later traced to
\nKisumu, where informers who had identified them said they were seen.<\/p>\n
Hours later, police arrested five
\nsuspects in an operation in Eastleigh and Mombasa Road and recovered 65 mobile
\nphones.<\/p>\n
According to the police, the suspects
\nnamed all the four gunmen who raided Chai Wali Restaurant along General Mathenge
\nand provided their details.<\/p>\n
The wanted suspects had escaped
\nNairobi. One of them was Vincent Ochieng, who was
\nfatally injured in a police raid in the Joska area, Machakos County, police said.<\/p>\n
The suspects had raided the restaurant
\non July 4 and made away with mobile phones and a laptop in a dramatic incident
\nthat was captured on security cameras.<\/p>\n
And nine days later, Ochieng was
\ntraced to a house in the Joska area. He had returned to the city hoping to
\ncontinue with his life.<\/p>\n
A team of detectives from the DCI headquarters
\nhad been monitoring his movements. He had apparently called his girlfriend
\nusing a different number.<\/p>\n
Hours later on Monday, July 13, a team knocked on his house on the second floor of an
\napartment which had only one front door exit.<\/p>\n
The suspect, according to the
\npolice, sensed the presence of the officers before they could gain access to
\nthe house and started shooting at the officers. The officers responded swiftly,
\nfatally shooting the suspect.<\/p>\n
He had refused to surrender and
\ndared the officers to get in so that they could meet.
\nThis came as detectives intensified efforts to
\ndismantle a criminal network blamed for a string of violent robberies in
\nNairobi and its neighbouring counties.<\/p>\n
\nAccording to the Directorate of Criminal
\nInvestigations (DCI), the suspect was killed after opening fire on detectives
\nwho had raided a house in Joska Town, where he was reportedly hiding at his
\ngirlfriend\u2019s residence.<\/p>\n
\nThe woman and a child were unharmed in the drama.<\/p>\n
THE OPERATION<\/p>\n
\nThe operation was conducted jointly by
\ndetectives from DCI Headquarters and DCI Matungulu following intelligence on
\nthe suspect\u2019s whereabouts.<\/p>\n
\nPolice said officers identified themselves and
\nordered the occupants to open the door, but the suspect instead fired at them
\nthrough a kitchen window. <\/p>\n
Detectives returned fire, fatally wounding him.<\/p>\n
\nAfter securing the house, officers recovered a
\nBeretta pistol fitted with a magazine loaded with four rounds of 9mm
\nammunition.<\/p>\n
Additional live
\nrounds, spent cartridges and three mobile phones were also recovered from the
\nscene.<\/p>\n
\nThe firearm has been forwarded to the National
\nPolice Service Forensic Laboratory for ballistic analysis to establish whether
\nit was used in other violent crimes.<\/p>\n
\nInvestigators believe the suspect was part of
\nthe gang that staged a daring armed robbery at Chai Wali Hotel along General
\nMathenge Road in Spring Valley, Westlands.<\/p>\n
WESTLANDS ATTACK<\/p>\n
\nDuring the attack at about 10.40 p.m., two
\ngunmen entered the restaurant posing as customers before drawing pistols and
\nordering diners to surrender their valuables.<\/p>\n
\n
\nThe robbers stole seven mobile phones and an HP
\nlaptop in an operation that lasted less than a minute before fleeing on two
\nmotorcycles towards the Parklands area.
\n<\/p>\n
\nWitnesses said the attackers fired two rounds
\ninto the air as they escaped, apparently to scare off anyone who might attempt
\nto pursue them. <\/p>\n
Police later recovered a spent 9mm cartridge at the scene.
\n
\nInvestigators subsequently traced some of the
\nstolen mobile phones to Kariobangi, providing fresh leads in the investigation.<\/p>\n
\n
\nSurveillance footage from the restaurant showed
\nmasked gunmen pointing pistols at customers as they demanded phones and other
\nvaluables. <\/p>\n
Terrified patrons were seen taking cover as the robbers fled.
\n
\nPolice said investigations have strongly linked
\nthe suspect killed in Joska to the Westlands robbery and other violent
\nrobberies reported in Nairobi, Kiambu and Machakos counties.
\n<\/p>\n
\nA manhunt has been launched for the remaining
\ngang members, who are still at large.
\n
\nThe DCI said it remains committed to dismantling
\nviolent criminal gangs and bringing all those involved in serious crimes to
\njustice.<\/p>\n
Police have intensified operations to tame the armed gangs on the loose trying to make a living.<\/p>\n
The team in the probe says they are pursuing more gang members who
\nhave been linked to attacks targeting mobile phones in the city and Mombasa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A day after a gang struck at a
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