Dangling number plate gives away suspected robbers

KUALA LUMPUR: A dangling registration plate on a car gave away four suspected robbers when it aroused the suspicions of a sharp-sighted police detective at Taman Sri Rampai, Setapak on Monday.
The pursuit for the suspects at about 6.40pm resulted in a policeman getting injured, when the driver of the car rammed into him during the 6 km chase.
Three of the suspects were later found to have 33 previous criminal records between them, with one of them wanted by the police.
Sources said the police detective was on patrol duty when he spotted the white car with four men in it, its rear registration plate partly detached. The dangling plate revealed the car's actual license plate.
Curious of what he was seeing, the detective radioed his colleagues and trailed the car, which was moving suspiciously around the neighbourhood.
Within minutes a police team dispatched by the Wangsa Maju CID caught up with the detective and joined in the pursuit.
Sources said that when the car stopped in traffic, the policemen exited their vehicles and tried to apprehend the suspects, but they managed to speed off after crashing into several cars.
The pursuit continued and when the car slowed down in heavy traffic, the robbers crashed into two police motorcycles, which a constable and a lance corporal were riding.
The officers fell off their machines, with the lance corporal suffering injuries.
In self-defence and believing the driver's actions could pose a danger to other road users, the constable fired twice at the tyres of the car.
However, this did not stop the crooks who continued fleeing until they hit another car at a roundabout in Keramat.
The suspects then jumped out of their vehicle and fled on foot, but the pursuing policemen managed to nab them after a short chase.
Checks showed that the car was leased from a travel agency, by the robbers who are between 31 and 42 years of age.
Except for the oldest suspect, the other three had a string of previous criminal records for burglary, gang-robbery, drug-related offences and had been held under preventive laws in the past.