Source: Carjackers target taxi drivers | Herald (Crime)
Crime Reporter
Carjackers in and around Harare are now targeting taxi drivers and stealing their vehicles and valuables after posing as genuine passengers.
This comes after two people recently lost their Toyota Sienta vehicles in Harare.
Police are still investigating the cases and have since arrested one of the suspects.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incidents.
“On May 15, 2022, police in Harare arrested Ngoni Utsiwegota (34) for theft of a blue Toyota Sienta vehicle registration number APG 1790 at Hopley Farm. The vehicle was stolen after the complainant had parked it outside the yard for cleaning.
“The complainant left the car keys on the ignition while he went to the house to collect a bucket of water,” he said.
Utsiwegota then took advantage of the situation to steal the vehicle and a report was made to the police.
A follow up was made leading to his arrest and recovering of the vehicle.
In a related case, police in Harare are investigating a case of theft of a blue Toyota Sienta vehicle (AFT 1987) which occurred on May 15 along Harare Drive in Mt Pleasant.
Two suspects hired the complainant in Harare CBD on the pretext that they wanted to collect a television set in Mt Pleasant.
Along the way the duo attacked the complainant before stealing the vehicle. Anyone with information to contact any nearest police station.
Recently, two men appeared in court on allegations of conniving to steal a car from the Office of the President and Cabinet after the driver parked it in Harare’s city centre to buy a pair of shoes.
Lameck Phiri and Last Chinamasa stole the car on March 17 at around 9pm, after Obey Mbofana had parked a Toyota Quantum at the corner of Kenyatta Street (formerly Park Street) and Nelson Mandela Avenue to buy a pair of shoes from vendors trading along pavements.
Mbofana had left the keys on the ignition while choosing a pair of the right size. On March 29, detectives from the vehicle theft squad received information that Crynonce Kasenga was in possession of one of Mr Mbofana’s stolen cellphones.
He was apprehended and indicated that he had bought the cellphone from Phiri, who implicated Chinamasa. When the police conducted a search they recovered from him the stolen vehicle keys attached to a blue Honda Fit key.
Chinamasa allegedly led detectives to Zinanga Village, Chief Seke in Ziko where his father Simon Chinamasa lives. He in turn told police that the stolen car was parked at his homestead by his son.
Phiri led the police to a maize field in Sunningdale 2, Harare, where he had stashed the number plates for the Quantum. He then led to the recovery of parts stripped from the car from the places in Harare where they were sold.
The duo is also facing another count of vehicle theft for allegedly stealing Mr Isaac Chivero’s Toyota Runx in the city centre. The court heard that Mr Chivero parked his car along Julia Zvobgo Street (formerly Rezende Street) leaving the key in ignition and went into a shop.
The car was stolen and was recovered when the two were arrested for stealing the Toyota Quantum.
The car was stripped and majority of the parts that had been sold were recovered.
In the third count, the duo stole and stripped Marvelous Wasakara’s Blue Honda Fit that she had parked along Leopold Takawira Street as she was buying bananas.
Phiri also appeared before Harare magistrate Barbra Mateko facing vehicle theft charges after he stole Owen Muleya’s beige Honda Fit.