Yogyakarta pawnshop robbery suspects nabbed, two shot in escape attempt

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Jakarta | Thu, April 04 2013, 9:14 PM

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Putut Eko Bayuseno said a team of Jakarta police detectives arrested seven Yogyakarta pawnshop robbery suspects at the Merak Harbor, Banten, but then had to shoot two of them as they tried to escape.

 “The two suspects, identified only as DRM and AS tried to escape while our officers escorted them to point-out the whereabouts of their partners in crime. They left our officers with no choice but to shoot them on-site. They died while on route to the hospital,” Putut said on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.

He said the other robbery suspects were identified as C, RK, H, J and DV, and that they had now been brought to the Jakarta Police detention center for further questioning.  He went on to say that as of right now, the police were still pursuing two other suspects who were believed to be the masterminds, Fahmi and Iwan.

According to him, all members of this crime group hail from Lampung and that they were on their way to Lampung when the police pursued them.

 He added they were widely known as experienced pawnshop robbers. Before robbing the Yogyakarta state-owned Pegadaian pawnshop last Tuesday where they managed to flee with Rp 6 billion worth of gold, the group had already robbed several others pawnshops in several pawnshops  in Jakarta.(tam/dic)