Cop, Soldier in court for robbery

Constable Samuel Asamoah, a police officer stationed at Kasoa, who attempted to rob a Nigerian student after he came out of the Prudential Bank with an amount of GH¢2,000 in his pocket, has been put before an Accra Circuit Court.

The suspect and one Danso Ofori, a security man said to be the suspect’s accomplice, were put in a court presided over by Justice Francis Obiri, a High Court Judge sitting with additional responsibility.

They were charged with conspiracy to commit crime and attempt to commit crime but they denied the charges and were remanded on the orders of the trial judge. The case has been adjourned to May 22, 2015.

Their alleged accomplice, a military officer only known as Yeboah, who was nearly lynched by a mob after the failed robbery attempt, is currently on the run and police are searching for him.

Presenting the facts of the case, the prosecuting officer, DSP Martin Acheampong, told the court that the complainant is Randy Aruvere, a student who lives at Kasoa, while the accused is a police officer stationed at Kasoa.

He said the suspect’s accomplices, Ofori and Yeboah, are a security man and military officer respectively, adding that all of them live at Kasoa.

The prosecuting officer noted that the student, on April 29, 2015 at about 11am, went to the Prudential Bank and cashed an amount of GH¢2,000, and that whilst walking home from the bank, occupants of a Daewoo Matrix cab with registration number GX 3599-13 signalled that he drew closer. When he did, the suspects pulled him into the car and said he was under arrest.

Furthermore, he said the suspects ordered the student to put his hand into his pocket, and that sensing danger the student called for help and people gathered at the scene.

The prosecutor stated that the soldier managed to escape while Constable Samuel Asamoah and Danso Ofori were arrested and sent to the Weija Police Station.

He said during interrogation the suspects denied the offence and were arraigned after police concluded investigations.