News / Local
'Car jackers' turn tables on ‘robbed' taxi driver in court
15 Dec 2023 at 02:17hrs | Views
IN a shocking turn of events, one of the three suspects on trial for allegedly stealing a Honda Fit claimed that the taxi driver's accusations that they robbed him of the vehicle were false because they hired and paid him US$60 for a trip to Kwekwe.
Blessing Ngwenya (30) from Nkulumane suburb who is jointly charged with Thinkwell Moyo (30) from Nkulumane suburb and Christopher Tigere (48) from Rusape in Manicaland province made the claims when they appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Joseph Mabeza facing a charge of theft of motor vehicle.
They pleaded not guilty to the charge and were remanded in custody for continuation of trial.
During trial, Ngwenya said that they had used the taxi driver's services on three occasions before the alleged incident.
"We have used the services of this driver, Brian Moyo on three occasions and on the day in question, we had hired him to take us to Kwekwe where we usually go to buy second-hand clothes for resale. We agreed to give him US$60 for the hire.
"He then told us that he was not able to go to Kwekwe and said that he wanted to go to his friend in Nketa 9 and that is where we left him.
"We then set out on our journey to Kwekwe and we encountered a roadblock at the tollgate. To our surprise, we were informed that we were driving a stolen vehicle," said Ngwenya.
Allegations against the trio are that on 17 August 2023 at around 10pm, they found Moyo looking for customers at city night spot situated at corner 11th Avenue and George Silundika Street.
Moyo was approached by one of the suspects who hired him to drive them to Nketa suburb and he agreed. They then drove to another club where they collected two other suspects and they headed to Nketa suburb.
When they were at Nketa 9 flats, one of the perpetrators pulled the gear lever to park, engaged the hand brake and the vehicle stopped.
The trio allegedly thrashed the victim and he fled the scene leaving the vehicle and his mobile phone behind. The trio then sped off from the scene.
Moyo then informed his employer, Patrick Murevanemwe about the robbery and he then checked the direction of the flight on his mobile tracker and discovered that the suspects were driving along the Bulawayo-Harare highway.
The matter was reported to the police who notified their colleagues in Gweru. On the next day, at around 2am, the police in Gweru then intercepted the vehicle at a tollgate about 20 kilometres after Gweru.
They arrested the three culprits and recovered the vehicle worth US$5 000.
Blessing Ngwenya (30) from Nkulumane suburb who is jointly charged with Thinkwell Moyo (30) from Nkulumane suburb and Christopher Tigere (48) from Rusape in Manicaland province made the claims when they appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Joseph Mabeza facing a charge of theft of motor vehicle.
They pleaded not guilty to the charge and were remanded in custody for continuation of trial.
During trial, Ngwenya said that they had used the taxi driver's services on three occasions before the alleged incident.
"We have used the services of this driver, Brian Moyo on three occasions and on the day in question, we had hired him to take us to Kwekwe where we usually go to buy second-hand clothes for resale. We agreed to give him US$60 for the hire.
"He then told us that he was not able to go to Kwekwe and said that he wanted to go to his friend in Nketa 9 and that is where we left him.
"We then set out on our journey to Kwekwe and we encountered a roadblock at the tollgate. To our surprise, we were informed that we were driving a stolen vehicle," said Ngwenya.
Moyo was approached by one of the suspects who hired him to drive them to Nketa suburb and he agreed. They then drove to another club where they collected two other suspects and they headed to Nketa suburb.
When they were at Nketa 9 flats, one of the perpetrators pulled the gear lever to park, engaged the hand brake and the vehicle stopped.
The trio allegedly thrashed the victim and he fled the scene leaving the vehicle and his mobile phone behind. The trio then sped off from the scene.
Moyo then informed his employer, Patrick Murevanemwe about the robbery and he then checked the direction of the flight on his mobile tracker and discovered that the suspects were driving along the Bulawayo-Harare highway.
The matter was reported to the police who notified their colleagues in Gweru. On the next day, at around 2am, the police in Gweru then intercepted the vehicle at a tollgate about 20 kilometres after Gweru.
They arrested the three culprits and recovered the vehicle worth US$5 000.
Source - B-Metro
