The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have arrested one of the suspects seen in the viral CCTV assaulting a watchman using a panga.
DCI revealed that the suspect was apprehended at a guest house in Bondeni “A” area in Mombasa where he had been hiding following the violent robbery incident.
A joint team of officers from Mombasa DCI Regional Headquarters, DCI Urban, and Tononoka Police Station conducted the operation that led to the suspect’s dramatic arrest on Wednesday.
The brutal assault, captured on CCTV footage, shows two men launching a vicious attack on an unsuspecting security guard.
Timestamps on the 20-second CCTV footage indicate the incident occurred on the morning of Sunday, January 25, 2025, at 5:43 am.
In the footage, the security officer, donning a reflective jacket, was on duty surveilling the area when two men suddenly appeared in the frame, one wielding a panga and the other a wooden club.
The panga-wielding attacker struck the startled watchman on the shoulder while he was still seated, forcing him to block another blow with his bare hand.
His accomplice repeatedly hit the watchman twice on the back with the wooden club as the victim tried to escape from the terrifying ordeal that lasted seconds.
The attackers grabbed the watchman’s mobile phone before fleeing the scene, leaving their victim injured and traumatised from the brutal encounter that shocked many Kenyans online, with the DCI revealing that they recovered a cache of incriminating evidence during the raid
“Upon his arrest, officers recovered a cache of incriminating evidence: six assorted mobile phones, a blood-stained panga, two knives, and a greyish kanzu that matched the attire seen in the CCTV footage of the brutal incident,” stated DCI.
The piece of cloth recovered from the suspect’s hideout matched the attire clearly visible in the CCTV footage, providing crucial evidence linking him directly to the violent robbery incident.
Interestingly, the footage suggests the panga used in the assault may have been blunt, as the watchman’s hand showed no visible cuts despite blocking the blow.
The arrested suspect is currently behind bars, undergoing processing ahead of his arraignment in court, where he will face robbery with violence charges that carry severe penalties.
Meanwhile, detectives have intensified their manhunt for the second suspect, who remains at large, with investigators following forensic leads to track down the elusive accomplice soon.