Stolen Uhuru escort vehicle ‘may have crossed the border’

The stolen Presidential Escort limousine could have crossed the border into a neighbouring country through Bungoma, a senior lawyer has said.

Speaking at the Rift Valley Criminal Investigations Department Provincial Headquarters on Monday evening, lawyer Cliff Ombeta who is representing a mechanic suspected to be involved in the theft said the limousine’s signal was traced to Bungoma on Sunday evening.

He agreed that the vehicle was taken to Mr Aggrey Ochieng’s garage in Nakuru’s London Estate but quickly added that his client was not aware that it had been stolen from the presidential escort or any other person.

“The gunmen who stole the Presidential Escort vehicle went to my client’s garage with it to check on another vehicle that they had taken there for repairs and they spent a lot of time with him,” he said.

Mr Ombeta said the gunmen spent about three hours with Mr Ochieng who even took them for breakfast at a famous hotel within the town.

“They took breakfast and told my client that they wanted to have their hair cut, he took them to a barbershop and they later went back to his house before leaving with the BMW limousine,” he said.

READ: Mechanic in court over theft of car linked to State House

Mr Ombeta said his client told him that one of the criminals entered his house and that is when he may have left the gun that Mr Ochieng is now being accused of handling.

“My client told me that one of the gunmen just entered his house as if it was a toilet and that is maybe when he dumped the gun therein,” he said.

The lawyer who had spent close six hours with Mr Ochieng at the provincial CID offices said some of the people who had accompanied the gunmen during their interaction with his client were being tracked down using their mobile phones

Mr Ombeta claimed that even the car that Mr Ochieng has been charged with being in possession of had been brought to the garage by the same people.

“My client has been dealing with the gunmen for a long time, they go to his garage for services little did he know that they were criminals,” said the advocate.

He said Ochieng would be taken back to court on Friday for the prosecution to decide whether to charge him with the limousine theft or any other offence.

Mr Ombeta said Ochieng had been kept under police custody for five days under prosecution’s request to allow time for further investigations.