Police grab suspected ‘notorious’ robber

A young man described by the police as a ‘notorious’ robber has been arrested at his hideout at Tonkin, near Koforidua.

Steven Larbi, alias Junior the Leg, is said to have been on the police wanted list for a number of crimes, including murder and break-ins.

The 24-year-old is also alleged to have been part of the gang of six involved in the Kwabenya police station jailbreak which led to the escape of seven cell inmates and the killing of a policeman, Inspector Emmanuel Ashilevi, who was on duty at the time of the incident.

He has been pointed out as the one who allegedly shot the policeman after posing as a complainant who wanted to file a case at the police station.

Briefing the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Commander of the Operations Unit of the Accra Regional Police Command, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kwesi Ofori, said the suspected robber had been on the wanted list for his alleged involvement in about 20 cases.

In some of the cases, the suspect was captured on closed circuit television (CCTV) during his attacks on his victims, he said.

Some of the robbery attacks and break-ins were on residents of East Legon, Mempeasem and its environs, he added.

Last robbery

ACP Ofori said the suspect was arrested after the police mounted an intensive search for him following his last robbery operation where he allegedly broke into the house of a banker at North Legon in Accra.

Larbi was one of four suspected robbers who allegedly conspired and undertook the operation with a taxi with registration number GN 177-17 at North Legon, he said.

He said a CCTV that captured the robbery operation showed that the suspects scaled the fence of the house and broke the burglar proof of a window using a cutter to gain access into the room of the owner of the house.

They attacked the banker and succeeded in robbing her of an amount of $57,000, two iPads, a Toshiba laptop and other assorted valuables.

While the robbery was ongoing, a brother of the victim (name withheld), who supposedly heard his sister's scream, attempted to rescue her, but the suspect hit his head with a heavy object, causing him to flee from the house.

Arrest

After the operation, the suspected robbers loaded the stolen items into the taxicab.

Police intelligence revealed that the stolen items were taken to a location at Awoshie in Accra.

The victim, however, filed a complaint at the Madina Police Station, and through investigations — with the help of the video captured by the CCTV camera – three of the accused persons identified as Michael Afrifa, aka Wofa, 35; Larbi and Prince Thompson, aka Atta, 30, were arrested from various locations.

An amount of $15,000 was retrieved from one of them, while the stolen items were found with another.

A fourth suspect, who is said to be a taxi driver whose taxi was used during the operation, is still on the run, and the police have mounted a search for him.

The police said the three suspects admitted the offence in their caution statements and after preliminary investigations, they were put before the Kwabenya Circuit Court.

Afrifa and Thompson were granted bail, and together with Larbi are to reappear on August 7, 2019.