Five appear on armed robbery charges

By Zedaiah Kanau
FIVE men alleged to have been part of a 20-man gang that robbed a lodge in Port Moresby’s Gerehu suburb appeared before the Waigani Committal Court yesterday.
Magistrate Garry Unjo allowed the men’s case to be adjourned for a month so police can collect evidence needed for a police file.
Before the court was Johnathan Makis, 22, of Saroakeina village in Rigo, Central; Ali Mathew, 21, from Tarapo village in Okapa, Eastern Highlands; James Ben, 20, from Angoram, East Sepik; Henz Yaru, 18, from Engaru village in Okapa, Eastern Highlands; and, Gilbert Augustine.
The case was adjourned to Aug 3 while the five are in remand at Bomana.
Police alleged that on April 23, between 3am and 4am, the 20 men broke into the lodge at Gerehu stage 4, Kaput St.
During the time of the offence, the men broke into one of the guest rooms at the lodge occupied by a man and his wife and held the couple up at gunpoint and stole a car key, cash and mobile phone.
The phone was valued at K1,199 and they also took K500 cash from the man’s pocket.
They also took the woman’s bilum which contained her bank cards, mobile phones and K450.
The men took the victim’s car, a white Mazda BT50 double cab valued at K96,000.
The suspects were in the possession of the stolen vehicle until they were sighted by a police mobile squad 3 unit at the 5-Mile roundabout near the Mobil Service Station.
The unit pursued the suspects who took the road down to Boroko and caused an accident near the Tabari craft market at the back of the Ori Lavi building at 4-Mile.
There were allegedly nine suspects in the vehicle. Four escaped on foot while five were captured.
During the recovery of the stolen vehicle, police confiscated two bush knives and three home-made pistols with several bullets.
The captured suspects were taken to the Boroko Police Station and detained.
They were then taken to the criminal investigation division motor squad for questioning where they revealed the names of some of their accomplices.
They were then charged with breaking and entering, armed robbery and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.