Suspected robber denied bail
A HARARE man appeared before city magistrate Ms Vongai Muchuchuti-Guwuriro on Thursday last week facing robbery and attempted robbery charges.
The accused, Pius Mukurumbira (50), was remanded in custody to January 12.
He was advised to apply for bail at the High Court. Prosecutor Mr Sebastian Mutizirwa alleged that at around midnight on October 13, 2015, the complainant was driving her vehicle heading home.
It is alleged that when she arrived home, she parked her car in front of the gate. She observed two men standing near the gate brandishing a pistol and an axe.
Suspecting that they were robbers, the woman tried to drive away, but one of the accused fired a shot that deflated the right front tyre of the vehicle forcing it to stop. It is alleged Mukurumbira and his accomplices, who are still at large, went on to smash the vehicle’s right window with an axe and ordered the complainant and her friends to disembark from the car and lie down.
Mukurumbira went on to search the vehicle and stole the complainant’s handbag containing $2 000, two cellphones and airtime recharge cards worth $1 200.
He also went on to search a passenger, Clive Taderera, and stole his $30 and recharge cards worth $200.
The court heard that Mukurumbira and his accomplices sped off in a getaway car.
It is the State’s case that a year later on October 28 at around 7pm, Mukurumbira ,in the company of his accomplices, hatched another plan to rob the same person for the second time.
They followed her while driving a Nissan Serena. It is alleged that the complainant noticed she was being followed and alerted the police.
Detectives from CID Homicide rushed to the scene to monitor Mukurumbira’s movements. The complainant went and parked her vehicle at a fast food outlet in the city and disembarked.
One of the accused, Carrington Mutevera, then followed the women into the foot outlettwhere he tried to snatch her handbag. Mutevera wrestled with the complainant before the detectives came to her rescue. It is alleged that Mukurumbira, who was behind the wheel, took off at high speed while Mutevera tried to escape on foot.
He was apprehended and has since appeared in court.
The court heard that when Mutevera was interrogated he implicated Mukurumbira. Mukurumbira was arrested in Harare’s Central Business District on Tuesday last week while the getaway vehicle was found parked at his house in Epworth.