A daring 40-year-old garbage collector who stole a police officer’s phone from the Pangani police station’s report office in Nairobi is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to theft charges.
Joseph Kariuki admitted that he stole the Sh19,500 phone belonging to Constable Kibet Kirui on April 16.
He pleaded guilty to the charges before Makadara Chief Magistrate Francis Kyambia and asked for forgiveness.
The court heard that Mr Kirui had left his phone charging at the report office as he went out for lunch on the material day.
When he returned, he found the phone missing and none of his colleagues had seen anyone pick it up.
Investigations continued and the station’s CCTV cameras were reviewed, where Kariuki was identified as having been caught on camera stealing the phone.
Kariuki was later arrested at the station where he had gone to collect garbage and found Mr Kirui at the same report office. Upon interrogation, he denied having stolen the phone.
Flatly denied
The accused person was shown the video footage where he is captured stealing the phone but he flatly denied the theft at the station before he was locked up.
But when he appeared in court, he accepted that he stole the phone and told Mr Kyambia that he will never steal again.
Mr Kyambia remanded Kariuki until May 30 and ordered a pre-sentence report.
Kariuki’s arraignment comes barely two weeks after another man was charged with stealing a battery from a police officer’s car at the Industrial Area police station in Nairobi.
Thandermol Falcao admitted to vandalising Corporal Fredrick Oramisi’s car and stealing its battery valued at Sh10,000 on April 20.
He was arrested by a security guard while leaving the station with the battery and he pleaded guilty to theft charges before Principal Magistrate Lewis Gatheru of Makadara Law Courts.
