A 46-year-old man has been arrested at Ashaiman for allegedly being a member of a car snatching syndicate that operates in the area and its environs.
The culprit, Yao Boateng, a drinking spot operator and his accomplice currently on the run, was said to have several occasions sent cars to a garage at Atadeka, a suburb of Zenu in the Kpone-Katamanso District, to be re-sprayed, after which they changed the number plates before driving them away.
Police believe the suspect and his comrade-in-crime are members of a group that snatyches vehicles from their owners re-spray them and sell them to unsuspecting people.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Juliana Obeng, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Tema Regional Police Command, in a statement indicated that on Saturday, June 4, 2016, Boateng sent a Toyota Corolla with registration number GW 4728-15, metallic ash in colour, to be changed to wine colour.
On the said date, according to her, the police, acting upon intelligence, laid ambush and waited for the victim to come and pick the car which had been re-sprayed into wine colour.
She further pointed out that Boateng was apprehended while replacing the number plate of the Toyota Corolla from GW 4728-15 to GT8599-14.
ASP Obeng claimed, “In his possession at the time of his arrest were road worthiness and insurance certificates which covered the new plates he was putting on the car”
According to her, information indicated that the two previous cars which were re-sprayed were a Daewoo taxi, metallic green and yellow with registration number GT 8762-14, the colour of which was changed to wine and white; and the Toyota Corolla with registration number GX 1720-14, from yellow colour to black.
The suspect, during interrogation, ASP Obeng said, asserted that he bought the Toyota Corolla from a certain man but could not lead police to the said seller.
She hinted that the suspect would soon be arraigned before court to face the law.
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