By Niken Prathivi

Many Jakartans are inseparable from their notebook computers and are streetwise enough not to leave them inside their parked cars, but criminals have gotten smarter.

Earlier this month Jakarta Police detectives arrested six suspects involved in stealing notebook computers from cars. They conned several drivers by deliberately piercing their tires with nails, forcing drivers out of their cars while they quickly stole their computers.

Four of the arrested suspects were thieves, while the other two men owned computer shops that bought the stolen goods.

A Jakarta Police mobile unit officer, Adj. Comr. Hasfinaldi, said the gang allegedly worked with eight members and had been operating for at least two years.

After a week-long investigation, his officers finally caught the professional thieves, who operated around Jl. Saharjo and Jl. RS Fatmawati in South Jakarta, he added.

The six suspects are Zaenudin (also known as Bayu, a recidivist), 39, Sulaeman, 31, Rizki (alias Aceng Sauri), 37, Samargondi (Odi Surip), 34, Agun Narto (Agun Suhanib), 20, and Apriyanto (Bento Suhanib), 20.

Meanwhile, the two fences are Nur Cahyo (Aan Timbul), who owns a computer shop called Inti Karisma Computer in Manggarai, South Jakarta, and Ilham Wahyuni (Tompul Rusli), who also owns a computer shop in Manggarai.

'Some of them have been committing similar crimes since 2007, while others have been operating for a year,' said Hasfinaldi.

He said the group operated during the morning, from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m., when most commuters were heading to work. They rode on motorcycles - the expensive kind, he said.

'They would split up, and start to follow prey from Jl. Raya Pondok Gede, Bekasi, West Java, Jl. Raya Ciracas, East Jakarta, or Jl. Raya Cilandak, South Jakarta.

'At a suitable intersection [for crime], one of the perpetrators, who had placed a sharp nail on the front side of his shoe, would get off from their motorcycles.

'He would stand near a car, which he had spotted carrying a notebook computer, and would let his shoe get run over to make the targeted car get a flat tire,' explained Hasfinaldi.

'When the targeted car pulled over, and the driver got out and went to seek help, they would sneak into the car and steal the laptop [without the driver being aware],' he said, adding the perpetrators would sometimes break the car's window with a spark plug.

The police also recently said that car-crash robberies were the new modus operandi in town.

According to police spokesman Sr. Comr. Chrysnanda Dwi Laksana the robbers, usually three people, would target lone drivers and start by deliberately crashing their car into another car.

After the crash, they convince the victim the crash is their fault and ask for compensation for the damage, leading them to a nearby automatic teller machine or a car repair shop.

Once the victim is cornered, the robbers threaten them, forcing them to hand over their wallets, cell phones or jewelry.

'Therefore, be careful should a car crash into your vehicle. It is important to settle car crash cases directly with the police,' said Chrysnanda.