Armed robbers raid Westlands restaurant, escape with phones, laptop

Police are pursuing four armed robbers who staged a daring late-night raid at a restaurant along General Mathenge Road in Nairobi’s Westlands area.

The gang, riding on two motorcycles, struck Chaiiwali Hotel at around 10.40 p.m. after two of the suspects entered the restaurant pretending to be customers.

Once inside, they drew pistols and robbed patrons of seven mobile phones and one HP laptop in a robbery that lasted less than a minute.

Before fleeing towards the Parklands area, the attackers fired two rounds into the air. Police recovered a spent 9mm cartridge at the scene as evidence.

Investigators later tracked the stolen mobile phones to the Kariobangi area as efforts to identify and arrest the suspects continue.

Police said a team of detectives was pursuing the gang with an intention of getting those behind the same.

The customers were left shaken during and after the attack caught on camera.

Footage shared showed the gunmen with face masks with pistols and demanding valuables at gunpoint.

They grabbed what they could before they stormed out and shot to the air to scare those who could dare confront them.

Some customers were seen taking cover as the gang shot to the air and escaped on motorcycles.

Police said they were pursuing good leads into the attack and efforts to trace and arrest the gang were ongoing.

This came as police said they were pursuing another gang that attacked an Mpesa attendant and robbed her of Sh250,000 in Kahawa West, Nairobi.

According to police, the incident occurred at around 11 p.m. on Friday, July 3, at an M-Pesa outlet along Station Road in Kahawa West.

The victim told police that a man posing as a customer entered the shop before being joined by two accomplices. One of the suspects drew a pistol and fired a shot at the shop door to intimidate the attendant.

The robbers then struck the victim on the head with the firearm, causing a minor injury, before forcing him to surrender approximately Sh250,000 in cash.

Police officers from Kahawa West Police Station visited the scene and documented the incident.

The victim sustained a minor head injury during the robbery.

No arrests have been made so far, and detectives from the Kasarani Sub-County Criminal Investigations Office (SCCIO) have taken over investigations as they pursue the armed suspects.