A woman is on trial for attempted robbery after she was arrested alongside two men including one who threatened a taxi driver with a toy pistol before their dramatic arrest outside Kasarani police station in Nairobi.
Joy Mumbi, 20, was arrested at the police station’s gate by police officers who rescued Peter Gathesa, the taxi driver.
She was in the company of her accomplices Kelvin Murithi, 22, and 25-year-old Julius Mbithi Njeru.
They are jointly charged with attempted robbery with violence contrary to section 297 (2) of the Penal Code, a capital offence punishable by death sentence.
The three are accused of attempting to rob Gathesa of his car, a Toyota Ractis – KDB 492S worth Sh1 million along the Thika Superhighway in Nairobi on November 19, 2023.
They are accused of using actual violence against the complainant during the incident because the complainant told the police that the three attempted to strangulate him during the incident.
Gathesa had picked up the three accused persons in Juja, Kiambu County after Murithi requested for an online ride on a digital taxi-hailing app indicating he was to be dropped along Statehouse Road in Nairobi.
Mumbi sat at the co-driver’s seat while Murithi sat behind Gathesa and Njeru beside him as they drove along the Thika Superhighway.
However, along the way, Murithi allegedly brandished what turned out to be a toy pistol and ordered Gathesa to stop, alight, and leave the car.
But Gathesa defied the order and sped into Kasarani police station where he was rescued by the police who arrested the three suspects.
Mumbi was arrested inside the car while the two others were accosted while attempting to flee.
Police investigations did not establish the relationship between the three suspects although Ms Mumbi told the investigators that she works as a house help at home along Kenyatta Road in Juja.
Murithi reportedly lives with his parents at an estate off Jogoo Road in Nairobi.
They all denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Gerald Mutiso of Makadara Law Courts.
They were released on a bond of Sh500,000 with a surety of a similar amount each, without an option of a cash bail.
The case will be mentioned on February 12, 2023, for a pretrial before the hearing starts on May 8, 2024.
