Criminal goes down to single shot

Sarawak, Sabah police end life of crime of Sibu man after cross-border high speed chase

LAWAS: A car-theft suspect from Beaufort District in Sabah was shot dead when he tried to attack a policeman with a parang near a bridge at Kampung Gaya last Sunday.

Lawas police chief DSP Anthony Abell, who confirmed this, said Sipitang police had requested assistance from Lawas mobile police in pursuing some criminals who had escaped from Sabah to Lawas.

Lawas Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief ASP Raduan Narawi said the 36-year-old suspect from Sibu died on the spot when he tried to escape by jumping from the bridge around 3.30pm.

Raduan said prior to the incident, the suspect and an accomplice, age 43, was reported to have stolen a vehicle belonging to a woman in Beaufort.

They succeeded in persuading the woman to let one of them drive her in her car to a durian stall.

It was while the woman was busy buying durians that the suspect sped off with her car in the direction of Sipitang followed by his accomplice in another car.

Acting on information from Beaufort police, two police cars immediately blocked a road in Sipitang and ordered the suspect to stop.

“The suspect refused to come out of the car. He only let out one hand while holding a spanner in the other and reversing the car until it crashed into a police car behind him.

“The suspect then sped off in the direction of Merapok, Lawas. The Sipitang police then contacted the General Operations Force (GOF) at Merapok border post.

“At the same time, two police cars gave chase,” said Raduan.

He disclosed that the GOF men fired a warning shot, which hit the front windscreen.

The suspect did not stop and continued towards the bridge at Kampung Gaya.

The policemen inside the two cars had no choice but to fire a few shots and hit one of the tyres.

As a result, the car went out of control and hit the bridge at Kilometre 5 Kampung Gaya.

The two Sipitang police cars succeeded in following the speeding car and were only 10 metres behind.

One police car from Lawas was in front of the suspect’s car and ordered the suspect to surrender.

One of the suspects, who was injured when their car hit the bridge, came out holding a parang and threatened to attack the police.

A policeman from Lawas who was only two to three metres away ordered him to put down the parang, while another policeman covered the suspect from behind.

Raduan said the policemen facing the suspect fired a shot, hitting the left side of his back as he turned to attack the policeman behind him.

“The wounded suspect then ran to the bridge and jumped, after which he ran for about 19 metres into the bush before he collapsed and died,” said Raduan.

The accomplice was caught later at about 7.15pm as a result of a public tip-off and police intelligence.

“We got information that the accomplice abandoned the stolen car near a village area and used a public transport to go to Lawas town.

“We raided a hotel in Lawas town and caught him,” said Raduan.

Initial investigation resulted in the seizure of an assortment of tools in the suspects’ car including stolen car keys, house-breaking tools, women’s handbags, and 80 syringes.

“We believe they were under restricted residence and were suspected of being involved in drug trafficking and house-breaking in Beaufort,” said Raduan

Borneo Post by Lucas Jalong Bato
July 14, 2010, Wednesday