Today in History: KNUST thief caught asleep with stolen car stereo

A man described by police as a terror on the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) campus was caught in an unusual fashion on October 16, 2005, after a university researcher found him fast asleep inside his car with the vehicle’s stolen sound system on his lap.

The man, Eric Aheto, a carpenter and ex-convict, was arrested after Mr Agyeman Badu, a researcher at KNUST, discovered him inside his locked vehicle the morning after it had been parked on campus.

According to a report published by The Times and reproduced by ModernGhana in January 2006, Mr Badu had locked his car the previous night. When he returned the following morning to move it, he was confronted with the unexpected sight of a stranger sleeping inside.

Even more startling was the fact that the car’s sound system, which had allegedly been removed from the vehicle, was resting on the man’s lap.

Mr Badu reportedly woke Aheto, arrested him and handed him over to the KNUST Police for investigation.

The incident, which occurred on October 16, 2005, became a key piece of evidence in a theft case that eventually led to Aheto’s conviction.

KNUST thief sentenced to five years

On Friday, January 13, 2006, Aheto was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with hard labour for stealing the car’s sound system, according to a Ghana News Agency report published on January 15, 2006.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) William Awuvey told the court that Aheto had been terrorising residents on the university campus for some time.

The police officer said Aheto admitted breaking into Mr Badu’s car, removing the sound system and causing damage. He also reportedly admitted stealing various items from bungalows on the university campus.

The prosecution described Aheto as an ex-convict, adding to concerns about the reported pattern of criminal activity around the university at the time.

However, the theft conviction was not the only case Aheto had to answer.

Separate robbery case

Aheto was also facing charges relating to an alleged attempted robbery involving Janet Tetteh, a librarian at KNUST.

According to the court reports, he was accused of attempting to snatch Tetteh’s mobile phone and inflicting cutlass wounds on her during the incident.

His plea in that separate case was not taken at the time. He was remanded in prison custody pending advice from the Attorney General’s Department and was expected to reappear in court on January 27, 2006.

The available reports do not establish the final outcome of that separate case.

A bizarre arrest remembered

Nearly two decades later, the circumstances of Aheto’s arrest remain striking: a suspect accused of stealing a car’s sound system was found asleep inside the very vehicle he had allegedly broken into, with the stolen item still in his possession.

The case serves as an unusual entry in Ghana’s crime history, not only because of the circumstances of the arrest but also because the theft conviction was followed by a separate case involving allegations of robbery and assault.

As GhanaWeb’s Today in History series revisits events from the past, the October 16, 2005, incident offers a reminder of how an ordinary morning on the KNUST campus turned into an unexpected arrest.