Police arrest two suspects over car theft syndicate, recover three vehicles

Police in Kayole have recovered three stolen vehicles and arrested two people suspected to be behind a car-theft syndicate.

Kayole Deputy OCPD Eshiphan Gichohi said one of the vehicles was recovered on Manyanja Road, four hours after the owner reported that he had been carjacked along the Eastern Bypass.

The car owner told the police that he was driving along the bypass at around 10pm on Wednesday night when he was accosted by three armed men, who made away with his car, cash and other personal effects.

“The police started tracing the vehicle at around 3am.

"The car was seized along Manyanja Road and a suspect by the name Josephat Kihara Kimani was arrested,” Mr Gichohi said.

The owner of the vehicle, who arrived at the Ruai Police Station on Thursday morning, however, said the suspect in police custody was not one of the people who had carjacked him.

Two other vehicles that were being tracked by police were recovered from a suspect’s compound in Mihang’o, Kayole, at around 10pm on Wednesday.

One of the vehicles, a Toyota Lexus with registration number KBQ 410L, was reported to have been stolen from a parking yard.

After the owner reported the theft, police collaborated with the car-tracking company and traced the vehicle to Mihang’o.

“We arrested the other suspect and while we were still interrogating him, we discovered another vehicle which was also in our records of stolen vehicles,” Mr Gichohi said.

He said the other vehicle that was in the compound of the suspect, Fatri Omondi, was a Toyota Probox, with registration number KBQ 886G.

The suspects were taken to Kayole Police Station, where they were being interrogated.

“We are also trying to establish whether there is a connection between the two suspects and whether they are behind a car-theft syndicate that has been operating in Nairobi.

“We will arraign them in court once we are done with our investigations,” Mr Gichohi stated.