Three men who were cornered and intercepted by police before they could escape on a standby motorcycle after robbing a pedestrian along Outering Road in Embakasi, Nairobi, have been charged with violent robbery.
They are Stephen Mutua, Tom Kioko Kitonga and Abdul Mohammad, who are facing charges of robbery with violence contrary to section 295 as read with section 296 (2) of the Penal Code.
They are accused of robbing Eunice Nyambura of a mobile worth Sh13,000 on December 17.
The trio faces an additional charge of being in possession of an imitation of a firearm in contravention of section 34 (1) of the Firearm Act.
In the charge, they are accused of unlawfully being in possession of a partly wooden- partly metallic object resembling a gun at the time of their arrest in circumstances that indicated they intended to commit a crime.
Nyambura was walking home with a friend when she was confronted by two men armed with a knife and a gun who ordered her to lie down while threatening her.
She was robbed of her mobile phone.
The two men rushed to a standby motorcycle where a rider was waiting for them.
But Police Constables Collins Amiani and Dennis Mugendi from Buruburu police station who were on patrol in the area heading to Vumilia slums next to Donholm estate stopped the rider and his two pillion passengers.
The three were ordered to identify themselves, where they live,d and where they were going. Still, they could not explain themselves satisfactorily, prompting the officers to detain them at the scene.
The officers conducted a quick search on the three men and allegedly recovered the imitation of a gun from Mutua and arrested all of them.
The cops also recovered five assorted mobile phones from the suspects, including one stolen from Nyambura during the alleged robbery.
They escorted the suspects to the police station.
Ms Nyambura was later contacted after reporting the robbery, and she identified her phone among those allegedly recovered from the three suspects.
The suspects denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Mary Njagi of the Makadara Law Courts. They were released on a surety bond of Sh800,000 without an option of a cash bail.
The case will be mentioned on January 30 before the hearing starts on June 20, 2024.
The two undercover officers are listed as main witnesses in the case against the three suspected robbers alongside Ms Nyambura.
By Joseph Ndunda