2 Suspects Busted Breaking Into Abandoned Petrol Station & Stealing Ksh8M

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) revealed on Tuesday, May 23 that police officers arrested two suspects in connection to the theft of Ksh8 million which was stashed in a safe within an abandoned petrol station in Nyandarua.

In a statement, the DCI noted that Ksh2.5 million was recovered from the two suspects, with a third one still on the loose.

"Police have arrested 2 suspects in connection to the disappearance of Ksh8 million, stolen from a Kiambu-based businessman. 

"In the incident reported late last month by the businessman’s wife, the money was stolen from a safe hidden in the abandoned pump station located at Kinangop in Nyandarua County," revealed the DCI.

An abandoned petrol station in Kinangop, Nyandarua County, where robbery suspects stole Ksh8 million in April 2023. /DCI

The suspects were believed to have gained entry into the building through the roof before helping themselves with the cash after breaking the safe.

The Ksh2.5 million was recovered from the suspects identified as Moses Cherish and Eliud Wangai. The third suspect, David Mushendu, is still at large.

"The suspects are facing charges of Stealing by Servant contrary to Section 281 of the Penal Code," added the DCI.

According to the Constitution of Kenya, Section 281 of the Penal Code Cap 63 states that, “If the offender is a clerk or servant, and the thing stolen is the property of his employer or came into the possession of the offender on account of his employer, he is liable to imprisonment for seven years.”

The DCI has been imploring a number of special tactics to pounce on criminals without notice, including posing as common traders in the country, as was the case when sleuths arrested two suspects linked to armed attacks against innocent civilians in Kakamega, Vihiga and Uasin-Gishu Counties.

Detectives from the DCI's elite Crime Research & Intelligence Bureau (CRIB), arrested the suspects in Kakamega, following a chase that culminated at River Lwatingu where the main suspect was arrested before he plunged into the river’s waters, to evade justice. 

The officers posed as mukombero and jua kali traders and patrolled the streets as well as many drinking joints of Kakamega in search of the suspect, before making their final move that also led to the recovery of a firearm.

The bloodthirsty suspects Patrick Mangale, 30 and Denis Indeche, 24, who masterminded several armed robberies in Kakamega had on April 9, attacked a senior DCI officer and hacked his head several times leaving him unconscious, in a pool of blood.  

"The officer based at DCI Kakamega North had just arrived at his residence at around 3 am from an assignment in Nairobi when the thugs who were on a motorbike accosted him at his gate. They descended on him with a machete inflicting several deep cuts on his head before fleeing into the darkness with his Jericho pistol, which was loaded with 15 rounds of ammunition.