Suspected robber killed in shootout

Page 3 May 29/2008

Story: Charles Benoni Okine

A fierce shoot-out between a patrol team of the Ghana Police Service and five armed robbers at dawn yesterday has resulted in the death of one of the robbers.
The deceased, who was identified only as Akwasi, alias Bullet, was occupying the front passenger seat of an Opel Astra taxi-cab which was snatched at gunpoint at Dome Pillar 2, which has become one of the most notorious spots for such armed crimes in the capital.
Three of the robbers narrowly escaped but luck run out for the driver of the cab, Thomas Frimpong, 19, as he was eventually arrested after a hot foot chase.
Frimpong abandoned the cab after it had run into a ditch and in it were found a machete with both sides sharpened, three live cartridges, a pair of pliers and a mobile phone.
Narrating the story to the Daily Graphic, DCOP Kwaku Ayensu Opare Addo, the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, said one of the robbers boarded the cab from Circle to Dome and just when he was about to alight, four of his accomplices rushed to the cab and forced the cab driver, Abdulai Ibrahim, out.
He said the robbers used the back of the locally made pistol they were wielding to inflict wounds on the head of the cab driver.
The driver was also hit in the face several times to force him to release the cab for their operation.
DCOP Opare Addo said Ibrahim rushed to the Mile 7 Police and reported the incident and when the information was relayed to the patrol team, a search resulted in the discovery of the cab at about 1.30 am.
He said the robbers refused to stop when they were signalled to do so and when the police chased them, they opened fire and the police returned the fire, which resulted in the death of one of them.
DCOP Opare Addo asked anybody who had information about anybody in distress around the area to report to the police for action.
Meanwhile, he said, Frimpong will be made to assist in the investigations to apprehend all those who bolted.