Gang raids police estate in shock daylight attack, leaves trail of cash

This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.

At around 1:40 pm on Sunday, August 16, a suspect believed to be part of a four-person gang was captured on CCTV assaulting a security guard who had tried to stop a getaway car at the Kitengela Police Sacco estate in Kajiado County.

According to guards manning the estate’s main gate, two hours earlier, two men and two women had gained entry after disguising themselves as members of a local church attending a prayer meeting.

As the gates of the upmarket estate opened, the guards had no idea that they were ushering armed individuals into one of the most secure estates in Kitengela for a daring robbery in broad daylight.

The leafy suburb, bought by Police Sacco in the 2000s, is home to both serving and retired senior police officers, making it perhaps the estate with the highest concentration of licensed gun holders in the rapidly growing town of Kitengela and its surroundings. The estate also pays homage to civilians.

The gang targeted a luxury home on 5th Avenue, which was owned by a Senior Assistant Inspector General who had retired just two months earlier.

According to a police report seen by Nation and corroborated by neighbours, the robbers used cutting machines to access the compound and the house before making away with wads of cash packed in cartons and suspected to be worth millions of shillings.

The police report indicated that an undisclosed amount of money was recovered along the avenue. No one was home during the robbery in broad daylight.

A neighbour, who spoke to the Nation on condition of anonymity, said that the robbers had left a trail of banknotes along the avenue.

“They (robbers) left a trail of money. Sh1,000 notes were strewn along the Avenue pathway. I suspect the amount of the money they had stolen was overwhelming. At the main gate, they reportedly threw banknotes at onlookers and guards to distract them,” said a neighbour.

CCTV footage from the main gate showed one of the guards swiftly moving to block the getaway car after the alarm was raised. However, one of the suspects, an unmasked, average-build, middle-aged man, was recorded attacking the guard with blows and kicks before hitting him on the head with a stick.

Another suspect was seen running from the getaway car, which was parked a few metres from the main gate, to assist his accomplice.

Together, they overpowered the guard, paving the way for the white getaway car to speed towards Isinya on the Namanga Highway.

The getaway car was later found abandoned in Isinya township, 21 kilometres from the scene.

Assorted number plates, a pistol belonging to a senior police officer, and additional cash were recovered.

The vehicle is being detained at Isinya Police Station. Once the distress call had been made, police officers promptly secured the home and awaited the arrival of crime scene detectives, who reportedly kept curious neighbours away from the scene.

"The police officer is a calm man who is always available for neighbourhood development and security initiatives. This was a premeditated robbery. The robbers seemed to know what they were looking for and where to find it,” said a neighbour.

On Tuesday, Kajiado County Police Commander Alex Shikondi told Nation that police had launched investigations into the incident. No suspect had been arrested.

“Investigation are active,” said Mr Shikondi.

This incident follows a spate of security incidents in Kitengela town. Over the past fortnight, three men aged between 23 and 27 have reportedly been murdered in separate incidents, while numerous residents have been injured by a gang said to be terrorising the area at night.

“Kitengela town is not safe after 11pm. Last Friday, I lost a friend who was attacked by a gang. The postmortem conducted on Sunday at Kitengela Subcounty hospital mortuary revealed he was hit by a blunt object in the head resulting to his untimely death,” said John Onyango.

Reporting originally appeared via Nation Africa. Read the full source for additional context.