A suspected gangster who the police stumbled on after violently robbing a pedestrian along Outering Road in Nairobi is facing robbery with violence charges.
Sammy Odhiambo is accused of robbing Simon Maina of his two mobile phones; a Nokia 315 worth Sh12,000 and a Tecno T313 valued at Sh1,500 on June 25, 2023. Mr Odhiambo is accused of committing the offence jointly with an accomplice who is at large while armed with knives.
The prosecution told the court that the suspects threatened to use violence on Mr Maina during and immediately after the said robbery.
The accused person is facing an alternative charge of handling stolen property contrary to section 322 (1) (2) of the penal code after he was allegedly found with mobile phone Tecno T313 worth Sh1,500 belonging to Mr Maina, a few minutes after the complainant was robbed.
On that day, Maina was walking home after work when he was accosted by two men armed with knives who grabbed him and frisked him while threatening to stab him. The suspects stole his two phones and Sh2,000 during the incident that happened around 7pm.
The two suspects continued walking ahead of Maina after robbing him and a few metres, he found Mr Odhiambo having been arrested by police officers who were on patrol along the highway.
He informed the police officers that the person they were holding for interrogation was among two men who had just robbed him of his two phones and cash.
The officers who had stopped and arrested Mr Odhiambo for looking suspicious and recovered Mr Maina’s phone and a knife hidden in socks.
Mr Odhiambo was taken to Buruburu Police Station where Mr Maina recorded a statement over the robbery. The phone and knife were kept as exhibits in the case.
Mr Odhiambo denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Gerald Mutiso of the Makadara Law Courts and was released on a bond of Sh100,000 with a surety of a similar amount. The case will be mentioned on July 26, 2023 for a pretrial and fixing of hearing dates.
Maina is listed as the main witness in the case alongside the two police officers who arrested Mr Odhiambo and their colleague who investigated the matter.
