DCI End One-Hour Manhunt For Robber Disguised As Police Officer

A robbery with violence suspect is currently in custody at Kitale police station after he was arrested by police officers on patrol following a robbery incident. 

In a report by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Dan Muiruri, 27, who was dressed in a police smoke jacket was in a group of five men who had attacked a man walking home on Monday night, January 9 and robbed him of his mobile phone and other valuables. 

The victim of the crime reported the incident to police officers on patrol who immediately launched a manhunt for the suspects.

A pair of police smoke jackets recovered from suspected robbers on April 10, 2020. /DCI

An hour later, the suspect who was dressed in police fatigues was arrested and the victim’s mobile phone was recovered. Also recovered were a kitchen knife and 17 rolls of weed. 

The suspect is in custody pending arraignment for robbery with violence charges.

This comes after a forensic expert based at the DCI’s Forensic Fingerprint Identification Bureau was admitted at the Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral hospital after he was attacked by armed gangsters on Friday morning, January 6 at Kahawa West in Nairobi.

Joseph Mwange was headed home in his vehicle accompanied by his wife from a party in Roysambu at around 4 am when a four-man gang accosted them along Kamiti road, close to Jacaranda estate.

Posing as police officers, the thugs flagged down Mwange’s vehicle and asked him where he was headed to. In response, he told them that he was headed home not far away and they let him proceed.

"But unbeknownst to the detective, the thugs trailed his vehicle and as he stopped to open the gate to his home in Maziwa estate, one of them opened fire and shot him before escaping into the darkness.

"His wife immediately rushed him to Kenyatta University hospital where he is currently admitted at the Intensive Care Unit in critical condition," stated the DCI in part.

A contingent of sleuths from three specialized units was dispatched on a manhunt for the armed gangsters, with DCI warning at the time that their "moment of arrest is nigh".

Impersonating a police officer contrary to Section 101 (b) of the National Police Service Act Cap. 84, Laws of Kenya, carries a sentence of a fine not exceeding Ksh1 million or imprisonment not exceeding 10 years or both.

Police officers next to a vehicle. /PSCU