Robbery with violence suspect detained pending completion of investigations by DCI in Nairobi
Vincent Kamau Kimani was arrested at the scene where one of his accomplices was shot dead after allegedly attempting to stab a police officer with a knife
A criminal suspect allegedly caught red-handedly robbing a taxi driver in Mathare, Nairobi will be detained for four days to allow the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) conclude investigations into a case of robbery with violence against him.
Vincent Kamau Kimani was arrested at the scene where one of his accomplices was shot dead after allegedly attempting to stab a police officer with a knife.
The officer was in a team that was rescuing a taxi driver from Kimani and his accomplices.
The police officers had rushed to a scene where Uber driver Boniface Ngonzo had reported having been robbed of his mobile phone, money, car keys and a car charger among other items by three men armed with knives.
However, on arrival, the officers found the three men robbing another taxi driver and ordered them to surrender.
Detective constable Gilbert Langat of Starehe DCI offices told a Makadara court in an affidavit that one of the suspected gangsters attempted to stab a police officer after they were challenged to surrender and was fatally shot.
Kimani who was unable to run away owing to illness was arrested and a knife suspected to have been used to threaten and subdue Ngonzo during the robbery was recovered together with Ngonzo’s phone, charger, and car’s keys, but the third suspect escaped.
Ngonzo had received a request for a ride from a client heading to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and upon reaching the pickup point, two men got into the car – one sitting in the co-driver’s seat and the other behind the driver. They told him to wait for their third colleague.
When the third person arrived, he went to the driver with a sharp knife and the one at the back seat also placed a knife on Ngonzo’s neck. The matter was reported at Mathare police station vide Occurrence Book (OB) number 5/5/7/2025.
“The reportee (Ngonzo) together with police officers rushed to the scene and found the same gang attempting to rob another Uber driver. They chased and cornered one of them who upon being challenged to surrender, charged at police officers with a sharp knife intending to harm them. The officers fired on air to warn him but he advanced towards them prompting them to shoot and fatally injure him,” Rotich stated in the affidavit.
“The officers also gave chase to the other two and managed to arrest one namely (Kimani) where a recovery of a Kabambe phone and a sharp knife believed to have been used by the suspect in the commission of the said robbery. Among them also were a HMD phone, a car charger, and car keys belonging to the victim.”
The suspects robbed Ngonzo of the mobile phone worth Sh38, 000, Sh300, a pair of scissors, the car’s keys and a charger among other items, but most of them were recovered allegedly from Kimani.
Senior Resident Magistrate Praxedes Anduke allowed the DCI to detain Kimani but ordered the police to escort the suspect to hospital before Wednesday 9, at 9am for treatment before he is presented in court the next day to confirm compliance with the orders.
This is after Kimani claimed to have lost an inhaler during an altercation with police during and after his arrest. The magistrate will be ascertaining that the inhaler has been returned to the suspect.
