A male suspect linked to recent incidents of robbery in Nairobi has been arrested.
Police say the thug identified as Peter Waithaka was nabbed at Makongeni in Nairobi’s east lands suburbs after a review of CCTV footage in the city.
“His arrest followed a 48-hour well-calculated operation conducted by the Kilimani-based sleuths, who used bait to trap the serial killer who has previously served 6 years behind bars for a similar offence,” part of the statement read.
Robbery evidence
After his arrest, Waithaka who is also said to have been a habitual offender and an ex-convict escorted officers to his home in Wangige where they recovered several exhibits.
“Police in Kilimani Nairobi through the use of CCTV cameras have nabbed a male suspect linked to recent robbery incidents within the city. The suspect who is an ex-convict took the officers to his house in Wangige where officers recovered several exhibits, among them shoes and clothes,” the police report read in part.
DCI says the 33-year-old is also believed to be the head of a gang behind the daylight armed robberies that have been reported in Kilimani and its environs and was responsible for the cold-blooded murder of a Greek National on October 15, 2022.
Describing him as an armed and dangerous gangster, officers noted that Waithaka was also responsible for several other robberies with violent incidents which led to some victims dying.
“In the October incident, the jailbird together with two accomplices on a numberless motorbike accosted Alex Marcopaulo, at the Menellik /Ngong road junction and violently took away a rucksack that he was carrying.
“One of them then whipped out a pistol and shot Marcopaulo once on the right side of the chest, before taking off on a motorbike. Efforts by doctors at the Nairobi Women’s hospital to save the victim’s life were fruitless as he later succumbed to the gunshot injury,” DCI said.
Adding;
“In a separate incident on September 29, the armed thugs had accosted 4 Dutch tourists outside Silver Harbour apartment along Kindaruma road and violently robbed them of their mobile phones, cash and pieces of jewellery before escaping towards Ngong road on a motorbike, whose plate numbers were concealed. As they made their escape, the thugs fired two shots in the air to scare off members of the public who had responded to the distress call by the besieged tourists. The Dutch tourists were waiting to board a tour van to Nairobi National Park when the thugs stuck in the 8 am incident.”
So far, detectives have also been able to arrest one of his accomplices identified as Stephen Elavuna, 38, whose case is pending before the Chief Magistrate’s court in Kibera.
The matter remains under investigation. The suspect is currently in police custody awaiting to be arraigned in court.
“Since then, detectives have been burning the midnight candle to unmask the identity of the miscreant gang and bring all of them to book,” DCI added.
