Tarkwa: Two men who conspired and stole faulty car parts worth GHS 17,500 at Bogoso junction have received three months imprisonment each with hard labour from the Tarkwa District Court One. The convicts, Robert Cudjoe alias 'Nose mask,' a commercial tricycle rider, 19, and Isaac Aidoo alias 'Yaw talk,' a small-scale miner, 18, pleaded guilty to both charges.
According to Ghana News Agency, Police Sergeant Enoch Assan-Donkoh, who led the prosecution, informed the court presided over by Mr. Charles Owusu Nsiah that the complainant, Christopher Dorglo, was an auto mechanic at Bogoso junction but resided at Booboobo near Tarkwa. Cudjoe, Aidoo, and their accomplice Emma, who is currently on the run, are residents of Booboobo in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality.
Sergeant Assan-Donkoh explained that the complainant had a collection of faulty vehicle parts, including gearboxes of Nissan Sentra, Ford Escape, and Hyundai SantaFe vehicles, stored in the open area at his workshop for repairs. On October 25, 2024, between 12:00 am and 1:00 am, Cudjoe, Aidoo, and Emma executed their plan to steal the vehicle parts from the complainant's shop and sell them as scraps.
In addition to the vehicle parts, the three accomplices also stole a defective car battery, a damaged car air condition tank, and four car water tanks from a nearby workshop. They hid the stolen items at Bogoso junction behind a storey-building along the Bogoso junction-Samahu road.
Around 8:30 am, Aidoo hired a commercial tricycle rider, Paul Balungo, a witness in the case, to transport the stolen items to Samahu for a fee. Just as the tricycle was about to depart with the stolen goods, a witness, Eric Wilson, stumbled upon the three men while on his way to his workshop at the back of the building. Wilson confronted them about the origins of the items and subsequently left to gather reinforcements.
Upon Wilson's return, Aidoo and Emma fled the scene, but Cudjoe and the tricycle rider, Balungo, were apprehended and handed over to the police. The complainant discovered the theft at his workshop that same morning and identified the stolen gearboxes as his property. Aidoo was later apprehended by the police, and in his caution statement, he confessed to the crime, naming Cudjoe and Emma as his co-conspirators.
Efforts are currently underway to apprehend Emma to face justice. Following police investigations, Cudjoe and Aidoo were formally charged with the crime.