Father, Mother And Child Arrested For Becoming A Pickpocket Gang In Surabaya

Police arrested a pickpocket gang in Surabaya (DOK. Polrestabes Surabaya)

SURABAYA - Surabaya Police has arrested a family who is a pickpocket gang, who usually acts at the Tugu Pahlawan Market. One family consists of father, mother and child.

"In total there are four suspects, three suspects in one family and one other friend outside the family," said Head of the Surabaya Police Resmob Unit, Iptu Arief Rizky Wicaksana, in a release received by VOI, Tuesday, February 2.

There are also three people who are one family, namely residents of Jalan Darmo Permai Utara, namely RDA, 50, his wife with the initials AY, 41, and their son with the initials ORT, 27. One more suspect is a colleague of the pickpocket family, namely SW, 41, a Japanese citizen. Oro-Oro, Tambaksari District, Surabaya. "We are now detaining the four suspects," he explained.

Arief explained that his party managed to catch the pickpocket gang after receiving information from Ervi Ananda Ayu Rahmadani. He is a student who becomes a victim of pickpockets from the suspects.

"So, this victim lost his cell phone because the suspects were stolen while visiting the Tugu Pahlawan morning market last Sunday," he said.

According to Arief, the four suspects have their respective duties. For example AY played a role in distracting the victim, while SW was the executor. "When the victim was caught off guard by the attention of the AY perpetrator, the SW perpetrator then stole the victim's cellphone," said Arief.

After that, SW handed over the pickpocketed cellphone to the RDA who acted as supervisor and was not far from the execution site. RDA then transferred the victim's cellphone to ORT's hand. However, their action was apparently less than perfect. When the cellphone was still in SW's hands, the victim regained consciousness and shouted that he had been hit by a pickpocket.

The Resmob team, who happened to be patrolling the market, immediately moved and became suspicious of the actions of the three suspects. They were followed and caught on Bibis Street

"After we caught him, we interrogated him. The items would be given to a collector named Oki. Then we also arrested him at his house," said Arief.

During the investigation it was found that the four suspects did not act just that one time. They've been in action five times before and it's all done in the market. For example at Jembatan Merah Plaza (JMP) it has been in action three times, and twice at Pasar Turi.

"For this reason, the public should be aware that when carrying valuables is always vigilant and placed in a safe place, away from the reach of thieves," he said.