CAR OWNER EXPOSES THIEVING CABBIE (LEAD STORY, MIRROR, MAY 1, 2010)

From George Ernest Asare, Kumasi
A 35-year-old driver’s penchant for ganging up with robbers to steal sheep and goats and sell them to enrich themselves was finally exposed when the car owner caused his arrest and handed him over to the police.
Kwame Amo, after escaping police arrest when his escapades were uncovered, phoned to tell his cab’s owner that robbers had snatched the taxi at gunpoint at Fawoade, near Mamponteng.
Unknown to Amo, the police had found the car owner’s complimentary card in the taxi and had invited him to the police station to assist in investigations. With the assistance of the car owner Amo was immediately arrested and is currently in police custody.
Amo and his two accomplices abandoned the vehicle full of sheep and goats and escaped into a nearby bush when the Police MTTU personnel on duty at the Fawoade-Mampongteng road intercepted the taxi.
The Ashanti Regional MTTU Police Commander, ASP Abraham Bansah, who briefed The Mirror about the arrest of Amo, said the police on their routine checks flagged Amo to stop the taxi but to their surprise Amo reversed and branched to another route.
The police quickly took position on the route and as soon as Amo spotted them, he stopped the car, removed the key and darted into the bush with his accomplices in tow.
ASP Bansah said the MTTU personnel opened the car boot only to find three sheep and seven goats with their mouths sealed with black Sellotape, apparently to prevent the animals from bleating to attract attention.
He said Amo and his men fired warning shots when the police made the attempt to tow the car to the Central MTTU in Kumasi to facilitate their investigations.
ASP Bansah said the police also found a complimentary card bearing the name and mobile phone number of the car owner, and when they contacted him to report for urgent discussion, he quickly responded and rushed to the police station.
It was at the MTTU office that the car owner learnt about the operations of his driver and the reasons for towing the car to the police station .
It was also during the interaction that it was detected that Amo had been regularly using the car for similar operations.
According to the car owner, faeces and wool of sheep and goats were often seen in the car boot, emitting a stench and so he had been warning Amo not to use the car to transport animals, all to no avail.
It was while the car owner was still discussing the issue with the police that Amo called to inform him that the taxi had been snatched at gunpoint by robbers.
The owner then asked Amo to wait for him at home, and just then, he solicited assistance from the police who quickly went to arrest him to assist in their investigations.
ASP Bansah said the police are also hunting for his accomplices to assist in their investigations.